The King of Slytherin Volume IV: Finale
by watercave
Summary: You all know the story of Harry Potter being the chosen one to end Lord Voldemort's reign. But nobody knew that he wasn't the one the prophecy referred to. And the real chosen one was willing to do everything that was required to bring down the Dark Lord.
1. Welcome!

Hello there!

Welcome everyone to **Volume IV** of my Harry Potter/The Vampire Diaries crossover fanfic! I highly recommend that you **read Volumes I, II and III before you start reading this** because otherwise you won't be able to follow the plot! XD

Now enjoy **The King of Slytherin – Volume IV: Finale**… (OMG, I can't believe this is going to be the last volume…)

Have a great day!

watercave


	2. Chapter 1: 1998

**Disclaimer:** Anything recognizable from Harry Potter, The Vampire Diaries or anything else that doesn't belong to me belongs to the copyright owners. I do however own everything that I made up!

I hope you will enjoy this last volume. I am really excited about it, because now everything is going to come together nicely (well, that depends on how you see it).

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

1998

49 years had passed since Katherine Pierce had been staked by Tom Marvolo Riddle in the forests of Albania. 49 years of Katherine wandering aimlessly around various countries. She had come back to life because she still had Vilhelm's gift of being an Original vampire. The only weapon that would be able to kill her had been destroyed millions of years ago. Thankfully Riddle hadn't been aware of that because otherwise Katherine would be really dead.

But right now the brunette wanted nothing more but to die. She had trusted Tom in every possible way. They had lived together and there never had been a sign that would have showed his distrust. Katherine had loved him and for her the past years had been proof that Riddle – even though he claimed that he didn't believe in love – felt for her in some way. But she had never expected him to kill her – well, to _try_ to kill her.

She felt as if her heart had been ripped out, thrown onto the ground and a herd of centaurs had stomped over it.

At first Katherine had planned on staying in Albania but it occurred to her very soon that the memories of her and Tom were just too present there. She couldn't take it so she started travelling all countries that were located around the small land in Europe. She managed to find nomadic vampires here and there so she stayed with them for a bit until she felt that it was time for her to move on again.

So Katherine eventually came back to her home country Bulgaria and managed to find the nomadic vampires her parents were with. Her mother Rumena Petrova was glad to see her daughter again and this time Katherine was able to meet her father Samuil too. They had heard from Kiril that she had betrayed the 'Inner Circle' and had switched sides. Of course Katherine had to explain to them what happened since – including Tom staking her.

Rumena was furious and spent half an hour cursing Riddle in Bulgarian for treating her daughter that way. After Samuil had successfully managed to calm her down her parents told Katherine what had happened since she had been kinda MIA.

The First Wizarding War had taken place and Riddle – or Voldemort, how he was now known all around the world – would have won if there hadn't been this incident with that boy. Apparently he had wanted to kill a boy named Harry Potter but his mother had sacrificed her own life to save her one year old son. Because of this shield of love Voldemort's killing curse didn't affect Harry – except for leaving a scar shaped like a lightning bolt on his forehead – but his _Avada Kedavra_ turned against him and killed him.

But because of his Horcruxes Katherine knew that he must have continued to live as some sort of a ghost until two years ago his mangled soul had returned into a new body. Harry Potter had been the witness of this and he had fought the Dark Lord many times over the years. And now the Second Wizarding War was in full swing and everyone knew that the final showdown could take place any day now.

After she had managed to comprehend all of the events that had occurred over the past 49 years, Katherine's mind swirled with questions and one was how Riddle had died because of Potter in 1979. She herself had turned him into a vampire… How could he have died? Even an _Avada Kedavra_ couldn't kill a vampire!

As she asked her mother, Rumena gave her the advice to return to the 'Inner Circle' and ask them for an answer. At first Katherine refused this option but after she thought about that for a while she came to the conclusion that she wanted to get revenge on Riddle for betraying her. She had switched sides once… who said it was impossible to do that a second time?

Her father Samuil accompanied her to the headquarters of the 'Inner Circle' and as Katherine now stood in the same Assembly Hall she had learned 55 years ago what the task fate had laid upon her was.

The members of the 'Circle' were surprisingly welcoming to her and nobody seemed to be mad at her for betraying them. But still Katherine felt ashamed as she asked for their forgiveness. Vilhelm smiled at her and said that he had known all the time that she would come back. And with a ritual the 'Circle' found out that Katherine really wanted to come back out of her own free will and that this wasn't some trick of Voldemort. So the brunette was allowed back into the 'Inner Circle'

"May I ask you something Vilhelm?" Eventually Katherine had the chance to ask the leader of the 'Circle' what was on her mind. After the old vampire had allowed her to speak, she swallowed and stepped into the middle of the hall, all eyes on her. "Well, I have turned Tom – I mean Voldemort – into a vampire and therefore made him immortal… But why did his body die after the incident with Harry Potter?" Vilhelm smiled as if he had been expecting this question. "When you are turned into a vampire, you lose your soul to the devil. But since Voldemort had mangled his soul by splitting it into six parts – yes, by now there exist six Horcruxes -" – he added as Katherine's eyebrows flew up in surprise – "he had no soul to give to the devil. So he was only a half-vampire and therefore not really immortal. That's why he died in 1979."

Furthermore Katherine was informed that Harry Potter was known as the 'Chosen One' to kill Voldemort. Apparently Voldemort had heard parts of the prophecy that made him think that this boy was the one to kill him so he tried to destroy him in 1979. That was the knowledge the 'Circle' had received from an organization in England who were in charge of building up the resistance against the Dark Lord. This so called _Order of the Poenix_ would surely be highly interested in what Katherine knew about their enemy. So Vilhelm suggested that if she agreed to that, he would arrange a meeting with the members of the Order and Katherine.

The brunette had absolutely nothing to say against this suggestion so she agreed to meet the _Order of the Phoenix_.

"Here we are Katerina!" Vilhelm motioned to an inconsiderable grey serial house in front of them. Katherine noticed that there was a gap in the numbering. "Okay, what house number was it again?" "12. Grimmauld Place 12." A little laugh escaped her mouth as Katherine read the little metal signs at the façades of the houses. "11.. and 13… Okay, let me guess… The house is hidden somewhere!" Instead of answering, Vilhelm conjured a wooden stick out of nowhere and hit the paved street three times in a certain rhythm.

At first nothing happened but after a few seconds Katherine felt that the ground was slightly vibrating. And then she saw how the row of houses before them was moving to the sides and normally there must have been a gap between houses 11 and 13 but there wasn't! Another much older house appeared and as Katherine read the number on the sign next to the huge entrance door, she was once again astonished what wondrous things you could do with magic. In front of them was house 12.

After the other houses had stopped moving Vilhelm motioned for Katherine to follow him but she kept back "I don't want to be rude Vilhelm, but this is something I have to do alone!" The old vampire nodded in understanding and he opened the front door for her. "I understand. Good luck Katerina!" "Thanks for bringing me here." The brunette smiled at him one last time before she turned and entered the dark house.

The small hallway right behind the door lead to a room which was lit with candles and with her sharp eyes Katherine could see many people sitting around a long table and discussing loudly. These must be the members of the Order of the Phoenix…

Katherine slowly advanced to the door that lead to what appeared to be a dining room and knocked onto the open door.

All people in the room jumped to action as they saw the intruder. With their wands raised and in defensive postures, the members watched every single move of Katherine. The vampire leaned herself against the doorframe and smirked at the astonished people in front of her.

"Who are you?" A tall man with brown-grey hair and a scar across his face bellowed eventually, the woman with pink hair next to him looked briefly at him but then her gaze quickly went back to staring down Katherine.

The brunette's smile widened as she pushed herself from the doorframe and walked casually a few steps into the room. "I am Katherine Pierce. And I am here to tell you some very interesting things about the Dark Lord!"

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><p>So, did you like it? Reviews please!<p> 


	3. Chapter 2: Nostalgia

Okay, first I want to APOLOGIZE for not updating at all since last time! Everyday I told myself 'Okay, and now you'll post the next chapter...' but since the beginning of the new term I was very busy with school (I love teachers who think their students don't have anything to do besides sleeping, eating and school!). Again, I am sooooo sorry and I will try to update more regularly from now on... But if I don't please don't kill me! :)

Thank you to every single person who has reviewed Volume IV so far!

This chapter is for you!

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Nostalgia

"Katherine Pierce? I know that name from somewhere.", said an oriental clothed man with dark skin. "Ah, you must be the girl Vilhelm was talking about. The one who was an ally from You-know-who…" Now all members seemed to recall setting up a date to meet a woman who apparently knew all of Voldemort's secrets. Immediately the man with the scar approached Katherine, his wand still outstretched but not ready to fight. "I believe Vilhelm when he says that you are really on our side but in these days it is not safe to trust anyone – even if it is the leader of the oldest vampire clan which has clearly opposed itself from He-who-must-not-be-named."

He motioned for the pink-haired woman to come to stand next to him. "I am sorry to say that but I must ask you to perform an Unbreakable Vow. Nymphadora, you're going to be the Bonder… Katherine, give me your hand!"

The brunette had expected some sort of test that would guarantee the Order that she wasn't going to betray them so she was not very surprised that she should do an Unbreakable Vow. She and the man joined hands and the woman – whose name apparently was Nymphadora – pointed her wand at their hands and said the incarnation spell.

Slowly a sort of thread which glowed with magic started to wrap itself around the man's and Katherine's hands, pulling them tightly together. While this took place the man started speaking. "Do you, Katherine Pierce, vow that you are here because of your own free will and that you will never ever go back to the dark side?"

All eyes shifted from him to the vampire who's gaze never left the man in front of her. "I vow this by my life and by everything that is holy in this world!"

With her last words her grip on the man's hand had tightened and she had involuntarily used her vampire strength so it was no wonder he winced a little from her grip. Katherine didn't notice until Nymphadora cleared her throat and the vampire came to her senses and immediately let go of the man's hand. He laughed a little while rubbing the part of his right hand where you could clearly see the marks Katherine had left. He then extended his left hand to the vampire and smiled. "Remus Lupin. Nice to meet you Katherine Pierce! And welcome to the Headquarter of the Order of the Phoenix!" The brunette smiled at him in return and shook his hand, all the while trying in vain to keep her grip as strong as a human's.

Now that the members of the Order knew for sure that Katherine was on their side they eased up a bit. Nymphadora even made room for her to sit next to her on the couch. With a small smile the vampire sat herself next to the pink-haired woman, feeling some sort of sympathy for her.

The man with black skin and who had introduced him to her as Kingsley Shacklebolt was the first one to address her: "Now, what can you tell us about You-know-who?" The brunette chuckled. "I think that I would be able to answer any of your questions about him. Go ahead!"

Remus Lupin looked a bit skeptical. "And what makes you assume that?" Katherine simply glared at him. "I was his Dark Lady from 1945 to 1949."

After that statement there was a total silence in the room. When nobody made an attempt to question her she continued: "Well, I was assigned with the task to bring him down and after some various twists and turns I somehow managed to get romantically involved with him – which was my huge mistake! – and so I was on his side. I wasn't pretending at all. My love for him made me believe in his plans. But then he staked me right through the heart because he thought that would kill me – thankfully he didn't know I was an Original." – a quick glance around the room showed Katherine that everybody seemed to know what an Original vampire was – "And here I am. I have been wandering around the ages until the day I decided to take the right side."

And then the brunette Original told the Order of the Phoenix all about the Prophecy and that she was the real Chosen One and not Harry Potter like the Dark Lord and everybody else believed. In return Katherine was updated on everything that was happening in the Order. She also found out that Harry Potter and his two best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were now hunting Tom's Horcruxes and that the Order was expecting them to arrive at Grimmauld Place 12 any moment.

As if on cue three young adults burst into the room. Katherine immediately recognized the black haired boy as Harry Potter. "These damn Death Eaters! They were chasing us like crazy and Hermione-", the ginger boy who must be Ron Weasley stopped mid-sentence as his eyes fell upon Katherine.

Harry Potter was the first one to speak after he and the girl –obviously Hermione Granger – had seen the stranger too; his facial expression was even more shocked and confused than the ones his friends showed.

His words were also not the ones Katherine had expected.

"That's the girl from the photograph!"

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><p>How I missed these cliffhangers...<p>

Reviews please?


	4. Chapter 3: The mission

Here we go! The next chapter is here!

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the last chapter and I really hope you will also like this one.

And here I start picking up the plot of the 7th book... With slight variations here and there to fit with the storyline...

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

The Mission

No one said a word for a very long time. Surprise was the predominating emotion on everybody's faces. Katherine blinked a few times. Okay, what the hell was that? A ginger haired woman – who seemed to be Ron Weasley's mother – stepped forward and was the first one to break the awkward silence that had began spreading through the room. "Harry dear, what do you mean she is 'the girl from the photograph'?"

Harry Potter's green eyes were on Katherine, never leaving her brown ones. He had pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at Katherine. And after a heartbeat he said to everyone in the room: "Well, some of the visions I get from Voldemort are simply about him looking at this photograph for what seems like ages. And she is definitely the girl on Voldemort's photograph!" All heads turned from him to Katherine who was genuinely surprised. Before she could stop herself she blurted: "Well, Tom is clearly your guy if you want to do something that involves violence and dark magic but I never thought he'd be _nostalgic!_" And as an afterthought she muttered: "And I can't believe he actually kept a picture of me…"

A look of confusion appeared on the Trio's faces. "What do you mean?", asked the girl with curly brown hair, Hermione Granger. Before Katherine had the time to answer, Harry cut in. "Wait! How do you know that we can trust her Hermione?" Lupin answered his question: "Vilhelm sent her here. And she did an Unbreakable Vow. You can trust her!" The boy with the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead looked from Remus back to the vampire with suspiciousness in his eyes. But he eventually lowered his wand. "Fine.", he murmured.

Katherine smiled a little. "Good boy. Now-", she quickly continued before Harry Potter could hex her. "To avoid any unnecessary questions I think it would be the best to tell you my whole story…" The brunette had all eyes on her again and even the Golden Trio sat down and waited for her to continue. "I was a Gryffindor first year in 1939 and Tom Marvolo Riddle – You-Know-Who – was a second year Slytherin. For some reason he and his friends bullied me but because I was a very shy and scared little girl I didn't tell anybody about it – except the matron in the Hospital wing but I made her promise that she wouldn't report Riddle and his gang."

The vampire folded her arms over her chest and turned to look out of the window into the night. Thinking about how everything had started made her feel somewhat nostalgic. After the silence had lasted for a few more moments, Nymphadora cleared her throat, signaling that Katherine should continue. "Harry, I heard you know everything about the opening of the Chamber of secrets in 1943..." The young man's eyebrowns shot up and Katherine turned around with a small smile on her lips. "Vilhelm told me that you know. Well, as I said you know everything about that incident. Everything, even the name of the girl who was killed then."

Harry Potter nodded. "Yes. Her name was Katerina Petrova." Somehow he started to get interested in what this young woman had to tell. A feeling told him that it was something big, something important.

The brunette Original started to slowly pace around the room. "Exactly. But you don't know that I was – or am – Katerina Petrova."

After that there was complete silence in the living room. Everyone had stopped doing whatever they had been doing to stare at her. After a while she continued. "But because of an injury I had – with compliments of one of Riddle's 'friends' – the matron gave me vampire blood… And if you die with vampire blood in your system you become a vampire – well, after a long process but lets not talk about that!" As Katherine thought about the incredible pain during her transition she shuddered involuntarily.

"A mssenger of Vilhelm found me and brought me to the 'Inner Circle'…" _And here comes the hard part!_, thought Katherine. The part of telling everybody that Harry wasn't the Chosen One.

She had no idea how she should crack the topic, so she settled on a brief introduction. "I assume you all know about the prophecy concerning Harry and To- He-who-must-not-be-named?" Stupid question! "Well… it says that you, Harry, are the One to defeat the Dark Lord." Harry nodded slowly, not knowing what Katherine was getting at. "Yeah… hm… errr… The thing is… you weren't the one the prophecy referred to…"

Katherine wouldn't have thought that the already dominant silence could become even more quiet. But then Harry Potter stood up from the sofa he had been sitting on. "But… that means Neville-" "I am the 'Chosen One'.", Katherine didn't even let him finish his sentence. She didn't have a clue who this Neville was anyway. And now that she had told him the painful truth she couldn't stop. She told the Golden Trio and the members of the Order that Voldemort had only heard parts of the prophecy and judging by them he had chosen Harry to be the one to defeat him. Furthermore she told them the whole prophecy and how she had been supposed to be a boy and all that stuff Vilhelm and Gwendolyn had told her many years ago.

And so the vampire went on to explain to the Order what her mission had been and how she had planned to succeed. She told her whole story and everybody listened closely to the new information they were getting.

After an hour of explaining and talking them through the past 71 years of her life Katherine let out an exasperated sigh and sank into the soft leather of a couch near her. All the talking had made her tired even though as a vampire she didn't need any sleep. But going through her happy months with Tom – _Merlin, I need to stop calling him that!_ – and her betrayal to the Circle – which still made her feel guilty- she was an emotional wreck. Too many different emotions for one hour!

Hermione was the first one to speak after the information had began to sink in. "Wow, okay… I believe that was a very rough time for you…" Katherine looked sideways at her, one eyebrow arched in a Do-I-even-need-to-answer-that? – fashion. She felt that the other brunette wasn't finished with talking, which was true! Hermione sighed and continued: "Um, Harry Ron and I are on the hunt for You-know-who's Horcruxes…" She glanced at Ron and Harry who seemed to get what she was about to ask. Katherine also had a vague idea. "Could you help us with finding them? Please?"

The vampire sighed. "I only know where he has hidden Slytherin's locket and I helped him to find the diadem of Ravenclaw… but if I am correct he has made six… I can only help you with the locket." Ron started pacing around the room. "Well, Harry has destroyed the diary in his second year. The diary which he turned into a Horcrux… with your death… wow, if that's not interesting!" Now Harry Potter said something after he had stayed silent for a very long time. "But you have lived together with that monster for a long time." He walked towards Katherine and looked into her brown eyes with his piercing green ones. They painfully reminded Katherine of Tom's so she had to force herself to not look away. "You know how his brain works and so you could help us find out where he has hidden the other ones…"

The brunette looked around and saw hope glinting in everybody's eyes and seeing the pleading expressions some sported she couldn't say no. "Fine, I'll help you guys!" After her agreement the whole room seemed to let out a relieved sigh.

_And maybe that way I can find an opportunity to give Tom the shock of his life. When he will see me – me, whom he has killed with his own hands – he will think himself mad. _

As if he wasn't mad already!

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><p>Wow, I guess this is the very first chapter of The King of Slytherine that didn't end with a cliffhanger... But the next one is going to be EPIC! I can't wait for you to read it! Now the fun starts to begin!<p> 


	5. Chapter 4: Hunting Horcruxes

Here is the new chapter of The King of Slytherin! The one the action starts in!

Thank you to all of my lovely reviewers, Someone, ChocolateBeth, FlowerAngelxoxo, Azure and Trulzxoxo!

Enjoy!

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

Hunting Horcruxes

Katherine sighed in frustration. She had thought that finding Tom's third Horcrux – Salazhar Slytherin's locket – would be quite an easy task since she knew where it had been hidden for over 40 years. But as Harry Potter told her that two Horcruxes had already been destroyed, she learned that the Golden Trio had already got the locket from the cave – but it was a fake one! _Great! Just great!_, the vampire thought while poring the contents of a blood bag from the local hospital into an empty glass and started sipping the red liquid. _For once I thought that my relation to Riddle – _Voldemort_, for Merlin's sake! – could be useful but someone must have thought it funny to put a fake locket into the basin…_

Katherine had told Harry, Hermione and Ron about how she had watched Tom hiding the Horcrux in the cave and that she had absolutely no idea where it was now and who could possibly have it. The disappointment was as plain as day on their faces.

That was when they heard a noise by the kitchen door.

The Trio initially pulled out their wands whilst Katherine switched into vampire mode, balancing her weight on the balls of her feet, ready to jump at what or who would come through the door, fangs bared. Then the door swung open and a very grumpy looking, pale house elf stood in the kitchen, glaring at the three Gryffindors with obvious disgust and hatred in his eyes. When his gaze shifted from them to Katherine however, the expression in them softened and the petite thing dropped to his knees. "What an honour!", he mumbled against his dirty shirt. "To have the Dark Lady herself in The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!" With a fleeting glance in the Trio's direction Katherine also dropped to her knees and waited for the house elf to look at her – and when he eventually did, she instantly began compelling him: "Forget who I am and that I was here. If I ever find you bragging about me in any way to anyone, I swear I will find you and rip you apart!" She was just about to rise again when she added as an extra warning: "Don't underestimate my spirit for vengeance!"

The vampire got to her feet again and strolled over to the kitchen table where she had left her glass of blood and downed it's contents all at once. In the meantime Harry had started to speak to the house elf about what he was doing down here and if he had been eavesdropping. "Of course he did Harry! It's Kreacher after all!", Ron pointed out. The 'Chosen One' shot him a warning glance but it was too late! The elf – whose name was apparently Kreacher – pointed a long finger at the ginger-haired young man and started throwing insults at him, such as blood traitor, scum and so on. With a bored look Katherine turned her head to Hermione and Harry who were trying to make the elf stop. "Do you want me to take care of him?" But her service wasn't needed because Kreacher stopped insulting Ron soon after the sentence left her lips. He turned to leave the kitchen and murmured something to himself. He thought nobody could hear him but he didn't know that one of the people in the room was a vampire with heightened senses.

Within the blink of an eye, the brunette was across the room where Kreacher was just about to walk out of the door, and prevented him from leaving with her iron-like grip. "Woah! Did you guys just see that? She just… Merlin, that was neat!" Katherine ignored Ron Weasley's comment and focused her gaze on Kreacher's eyes. "Repeat what you were just saying so everyone can hear it!" The once again compelled elf complied with her wish and croaked: "Scum, just like that traitor who stole the golden locket!"

Complete silence followed that sentence but after the Trio got over the first shock they all understood what the house elf had just said. Harry was the first one to speak. "What kind of locket? Katherine, make him tell us what he is talking about."

Soon after that Hermione, Ron, Harry and Katherine listened completely gobsmacked to what Kreacher seemed to know. "It was Master Black's locket. Master Regulus Black left me a letter after he died. He ordered me to go… To a dark cave… There was a basin…" The memory seemed to make the little figure feel uncomfortable because he constantly shifted his weight from one foot to another as he continued: "The potion… Oh, it was horrible! I wanted to stop but Master's orders kept me drinking."

Katherine saw some sort of compassion glow in the green eyes of Harry as he seemed to remember the events when he had been to the cave. Her own thoughts wandered back to when she had come to the place with Tom all those years ago and how she had watched him set up the sink with the potion. She had been sure that it must be full of Dark Magic but she had never known what it did exactly…

"And then I replaced the locket with the one Master Regulus sent me with his letter. Then I came home."

Katherine felt like someone had thrown a brick right at her face. Everything made sense now! It really had been Regulus Black who had stolen the locket back in 1948 and he must have found out where Tom and her had hid it. _But how? He was already dead at that time…_

She had to know! Another compulsion later the vampire knew that according to Kreacher, Regulus Black had placed a tracking spell on the real locket when he had it in his possession. The current location was shown on the letter Black had sent the house elf so he simply had to go there and complete the task.

Suddenly Hermione, being the brightest witch in Hogwarts, realized something. "Kreacher, you said before that…'the traitor who stole the golden locket'! Who was that?" The house elf was still under the effects of Katherine's previous compulsion, so he answered: "Mundungus Fletcher."

Katherine felt sort of uncomfortable. Harry, Ron and Hermione had taken Polyjuice Potion to look like ministry employees but since it would have been too risky to trap another official, Katherine had offered to use her vampire speed to rush from shadow to shadow. An offer she regretted now!

Even though the brunette knew she could compel anyone discovering her into believing that he or she hadn't seen anything, the vampire felt a little bit unsafe.

Right after their little talk with Kreacher the Trio and Katherine had started looking for Mundungus Fletcher. And Hermione's thought to start in Diaggon Alley had spared them any further search because the little man was in Diaggon Alley, trying to sell worthless artifacts, claiming that wearing them would prevent Death Eaters from finding you. _He should totally overthink his marketing strategy!_, was all Katherine had to say about that, knowing just too well that it took a lot more than some necklace for eight – eight! – Galleons to prevent the Death Eaters from tracking you down. _If they really want or need to find you, there is nothing you can do to save yourself!_

Mundungus wasn't exactly happy to see them – in fact he paled considerably – and he wasn't very eager to tell them where the locket was either. Harry and Ron tried their best to get him into telling them but without any success. As this went on for a few minutes, Katherine cocked her head to the side to look at a tense Hermione. The two young women shared a deep eye contact during which their female intuition exchanged the message, that they were just wasting time. And time was something they did not have very much.

So the vampire darted forward, grabbed the small man by the collar of his shirt and used her compulsion abilities once more and found out that Mundungus had sold the locket to a woman, a ministry official 'with a bow on top of her head'. To the brunette's surprise, the Trio seemed to know who that woman was and now they were in the Ministry of Magic, disguised as ministry workers – well, in Katherine's case disguised as herself – and looking for this woman whose name Harry, Ron and Hermione had told her: Dolores Umbridge.

Harry had asked Katherine to accompany him to the court halls, which were on the lowest level of the Ministry and where Umbridge was supposed to hold a trial.

While Harry was posing as an Auror, the vampire hid in the shadows next to the Dementors, who luckily didn't seem to notice her presence.

Although the Dementors didn't affect Katherine, she did feel the cold that was radiating off of them. Her eyes scanned the auditorium and briefly rested on Harry – the Auror standing next to the defendant – and Ron, who was apparently inhabiting the body of the defendant's husband. The vampire smirked. The wizard looked quite uncomfortable because his 'wife' was clinging to his hand as if her life depended on it.

_Hey, focus on the task at hand!_, she told herself, but at that moment, something caught her attention. She blinded out all sounds in the court and concentrated herself on a whisper, which was inaudible to anybody else but her. And when she had localized the origin of the sound, Katherine saw that Harry's lips were slightly moving, almost unnoticeable. His green eyes were fixed on her.

The vampire started listening to what he said, repeating the same sentences over and over again: "Get the locket with your vampire speed, Katherine! The judge is wearing it. Ron and I will give you back up!" With a curt nod the vampire let him know that she had understood.

Katherine's mind was racing to plan the best way of obtaining the horcrux, but she eventually decided, that she would just go for it when the time was right.

And then the world seemed to switch into slow motion.

Katherine was racing towards the judge's panel, fixing her eyes on the golden locket she would recognize everywhere, and at the same time reaching inside her coat for her wand. Her heightened senses registered, that Harry and Ron had also started moving to prevent any incidents.

The vampire couldn't exactly remember the moment she actually ripped Salazhar Slytherin's locket from the judge's neck, but she could recall the look on the small woman's face when she did it: first, surprise, then shock and the last emotion before Katherine had turned her back on her, making a dash for the double doors, was blatant fury.

Harry and Ron had done an excellent job at stunning everyone who looked like they would try to prevent them from fleeing– in short: everyone – and so it was easy to get out of the court.

But when they arrived at the crowded atrium of the Ministry, they were immediately attacked by numerous guards. "Quick, we've got to get Hermione and then we're out of here!, Ron declared, preparing himself to duel. Thankfully, Katherine recognized Hermione standing on the opposite side of the atrium, the Polyjuice Potion had obviously lost its impact since she no longer looked like the ministry worker she had been impersonating. "There she is!", without thinking twice, Katherine grabbed Harry and Ron by their arms and hauled them along with her, racing over to Hermione. As soon as the brunette witch saw them approaching, she pulled out the portkey she had made for a situation like this in advance.

When all four hands touched the magical artifact, a swirl of bright colours seemed to swallow them up.

"A forest? In the middle of nowhere? Seriously Hermione, there is no destination for a portkey which is more disadvantageous as a forest!", Ron furiously turned around, desperate to find something familiar in the deserted forest. The brunette witch flushed in anger and shot back: "Is that so, _Ronald_ Weasley? Well, if you don't like the locations of my portkey, why don't you create your own the next time?" "Why are you so snappy all of sudden? It's not like it is my fault that we're searching for Voldemort's damn-"

A loud plopping noise made Ron stop mid-sentence and a cautious look appeared on everybody's faces. Hermione was franticly turning around to determine the source of the noise.

But Katherine heard them first. "Oh, damn it!", she cursed. "I should have known he had a tracking spell placed upon his name. To find the ones who still dare to speak his name!" Harry paled considerably and tightened his grip on his wand. "A tracking spell? Which means-" Hermione interrupted him: "Which means there are I don't know how many Death Eaters near us…" The young witch was desperately searching her brain for something she could do. And in a matter of seconds she had an idea!

"We can't run away anymore, they are way too close. But I will place spells similar to Polyjuice Potion on us." Hermione had barely finished talking when she already had muttered the charm and all four felt a warmth spreading through their bodies. They had no time to check if the transformation had worked, as many Death Eaters started appearing all around them, firing off some stunning spells and the last thing they could recall was vicious laughter from the Death Eaters.

Then everything faded into black nothingness.

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><p>Any thoughts?<p> 


	6. Chapter 5: Imprisonment

Errrr... hello?

...

PLEASE DON'T THROW STONES OR SOMETHING AFTER ME!

*hides*

...

No stones? Okay...

Well, I have some serious explaining to do I know! I sincerely apologize for not updating... in a while, yeah I guess you could say it like that :) my laptop crashed, deleting absolutely EVERYTHING that was on it (including the remaining chapters from King of Slytherin... I was finished with this story! but then this damn virus came along... :() and then it turned out that my 'backup' was not a real backup but merely a photograph of my files... soooo, I didn't felt like writing for a long time... but yesterday I started writing again and it turned out to be for this story! So yeah, thank you for all of you who haven't unsubscribed to The King of Slytherin and welcome to all of you who have started reading it while I was MIA :)

That's it for now, please enjoy chapter five of volume IV!

lots of love

watercave

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

Imprisonment

Katherine's eyes scanned the cracked old wall of the cellar they were in. The stunning spells the Death Eaters had put on her, Harry, Ron and Hermione hadn't had such an impact on the vampire – she had come to her senses only minutes after their kidnappers had locked them into the basement of the house they were in. The other three were still knocked out on the floor and the spell Hermione had used to disguise them had also lost its force.

The brunette focused her vampire senses onto the room above her head. She felt some activity going on up there and she could also distinguish an all too familiar presence – _he_ was also there! The thought of maybe seeing him earlier than she had originally expected sent a shiver down her spine.

A woman's voice in the room above, which seemed to be the site of an assembly, made Katherine listen up. "Wormtail! The Dark Lord wants to see the new prisoners Scabiour brought in. Bring the blonde girl first!"

_Blonde?_ Katherine had listened for other heartbeats in the vast cellar but except for the Golden Trio's ones she hadn't found any other signs of living creatures. They must be completely alone. But neither she, nor Hermione were blonde so what did that woman mean by 'Bring the blonde girl first'?"

Suddenly the realization hit her that Hermione had changed her hair colour from brown to blonde. Katherine heard how scuffled steps left the room above the cellar. The vampire quickly jumped to her feet and began to rudely wake up Ron, Hermione and Harry. Thankfully their brains weren't in a post-stupor haze so they immediately saw the danger as Katherine briefly told them what was about to happen: this guy named Wormtail – _what a ridiculous name!_ – would come down here and take Katherine into the assembly room which was very likely full of Death Eaters and on top of that the Dark Lord himself!

"Hermione, you must alter our appearances again – now!" Harry searched his pockets for his wand but as expected his had been confiscated by the Death Eaters. It was the same with Hermione's and Ron's wands. Katherine hadn't had her wand in her hand as Scabiour and his 'friends' had found them as she usually hid her skull-and-snake wand in a secret pocket of her coat which was unable to find – unless you knew where it was!

While Hermione prepared the spells she was about to use on them, Katherine turned to Harry and Ron to tell them the plan that had suddenly popped up in her head. "I've got an idea how I can get you all out of here... I am quite good when it comes to wandless magic so I can make my real appearance show whenever I want. Maybe I can bring _him_ to trust me again and… if I pretend to be on his side again I can compel this Wormtail guy to set you free..." Ron nodded enthusiastically but Harry had some sort of distrust in his green eyes. "I am fine with that but let me warn you.", he eventually said. "If you change sides _for real_ again then I will never forgive you and no one on our side will!" Katherine looked at the black haired young man with pure honesty in her eyes. Then she nodded slowly and Hermione was ready to disguise them again.

The transformation was only a matter of time since Hermione was really the best witch Katherine had ever come across and so they had nothing to fear from Wormtail, who now opened the door and motioned for the vampire – who was now all blonde again – to come with him. Katherine's heart was thumping so loud she could barely hear her own thoughts. As she was led by Wormtail into the huge room above the cellar, she immediately felt all eyes of the present Death Eaters on her. Only one person wasn't paying her any attention. He stood clothed in pitch black robes at the far end of the room, his back facing his followers. His skin was ghostly white, even paler than he had been back in his youth. A shiver ran down Katherine's spine as she fought the urge to just grab him and shake the life out of him.

Instead she occupied herself with trying to look frightened and horrified by the assembly of Death Eaters. That seemed to work out rather well, so she could focus on keeping her dark and powerful aura in check. Normal wizards and other magical creatures were unable to sense a vampire's aura but from one of her first conversations with Riddle Katherine had learned that he seemed to be able to sense her aura. And Katherine didn't want her cover to be blown just yet. She had a task to accomplish after all! And she wouldn't be Katherine Pierce if she wouldn't want to have some fun with the Death Eaters before she would give up her masquerade!

A mad an slightly insane looking woman with thick black and curly hair and heavy eyelids approached her and from what Katherine had heard about certain Death Eaters in various conversations with members of both the Circle and the Order of the Phoenix she assumed that this must be Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort's most loyal servant – who seemed to have a massive crush on him!

Bellatrix dismissed Wormtail with a wave of her hand, her insane eyes never leaving her prey: Katherine in disguise! She turned around to address her master. "My Lord, please give me permission of torturing her before we start questioning her." Katherine's gaze darted from the woman to where he was standing, still looking out of one of the windows of the room. He didn't say anything, nor did he move his head in any way. He simply lifted his left hand as if to say 'If you insist.' That was enough for Bellatrix. With a crazy laugh she fired the first Cruciatus curse of many Katherine's way.

While the vampire didn't feel anything except a slight tingling in her toes and fingers, Katherine posing as a blonde witch had thrown herself on the cold marble floor and screamed her lungs out, pretending she was in incredible pain.

This went on for quite a bit during which Bellatrix interrupted her torture only to throw insults at her victim.

And that was a huge mistake! Katherine didn't like it when she was insulted and made fun of; even when she was disguising herself, so it was no wonder that her hatred towards Bellatrix grew exponentially with every passing second.

And then she couldn't take it any longer! She fake-gasped for air and said, as if desperately trying to buy time before the next Cruciatus curse: "Stop it!"

After that not only did Bellatrix laugh at her, the other Death Eaters joined in. Then the black haired woman raised her wand and her lips formed the all too familiar words 'Crucio'. As if someone had pushed the 'slow motion' button, Katherine saw the red light of the curse break free from the tip of Bellatrix' wand and slowly making its way towards her. That was when Katherine activated her vampire skills and got up in the fraction of a second; she came to stand in front of Bellatrix in another one. The witch's cruel laugh had turned into a stunned expression as her brain slowly processed what was happening and then Katherine threw her to the ground with a cold expression, her voice deadly calm as she said: "Which part of 'Stop it' did you not understand?"

Complete silence followed her words and as Katherine took a look around, she saw the same stunned expression on all Death Eater's faces. Even the Dark Lord had slightly turned his head to see what had happened.

A man with grey hair was the first one to wake from his stupor. He pointed his wand at Katherine while he advanced on her. The vampire waited until he was only a few feet away. Then she grabbed him by his long black cloak and threw him head first into the nearest wall, all the while keeping a cold and slightly bored look on her face.

In the meantime, Bellatrix had recovered from her shock and was just about to launch an immediate attack on Katherine, but the brunette registered her intentions straight away and as Bellatrix lunged for her, she simply stuck her right hand out, which, in collision with the witch's body, went through her skin and quickly got hold of her heart.

The Death Eater's gasped in horror as Bellatrix' eyes slowly travelled down her body to where Katherine's hand disappeared inside her. Then her eyes met her attacker's gaze and what she saw there made her feel fear. After years of being a fearless Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange felt fear because of the blood red eyes, paired with black veins like cracks in marble that run down the vampire's cheeks, that were staring at her.

"Do you feel this?", Katherine asked in a casual tone as if she wanted to know if it was going to rain later. The vampire had began to slowly remove the charm that made her look different, beginning with her face.

"All I would have to do to kill you is to move my hand from left to right." – to add even more pressure to the already tense situation the vampire slightly moved her hand from left to right – "But that would be too nice of me!" Katherine slowly stepped away and let go of Bellatrix' heart. "Bitches like you deserve a very… very… very, very painful death!"

Katherine looked up from the frightened Bellatrix who was now at her feet, to see that Voldemort had turned around to face everybody.

And upon seeing his rather bizarre appearance, Katherine couldn't help herself from blurting out: "Oh god, when I was told about how you looked after your… rebirth… I thought my informant was exaggerating. But, now I have to say… My source's description was rather nice actually! What did you do Tom?"

Upon mentioning his former first name the Dark Lord tensed and looked at her with his most piercing look. "Who do you think you are to insult me by calling me that?" Now, Katherine decided, was the perfect moment to let her masquerade disappear.

The next moment Voldemor was looking at the spitting image of Katherine Pierce, the vampire whom he had staked in 1949.

For the first time after all those years the Dark Lord was caught off guard. "But- No, that can't be!"

Katherine smiled her famous seductive smile and slowly stepped closer to him. "Well, well… How long has it been, Riddle? 49 years if I am not mistaken. Wow, next year's our 50th anniversary of not seeing each other! We should celebrate!"

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><p>Yay!<p>

Katherine is back! I simply love writing Badass-Katherine! And I missed it too! :D Comments are very much apreciated! Until the next time (and this time it won't be in a few months ^^)


	7. Chapter 6: Lies and truth

Okay, I wouldn't blame you if you had plans to set the basilisk on me... Oh my god, when was the last time I updated? Almost two months ago? Oh well... I survived the last exam period of this school year and now I finally have time to write again. Yay!

As I wrote this chapter, I kept deleting and editing a lot more than usual and I guess that's because this chapter sees the reunion of Riddle and Katherine after almost 50 years and I think I just wanted it to be perfect... I don't know if I succeeded though.

A huge thank you goes out to all my reviewers from last time, which are **ChocolateBeth**, **thaliagrace16** and **LUCY**! Hope you (and everyone else who readys this) enjoy this update!

Lots of love

watercave

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

A lot of lies and a little bit of truth

Katherine could almost hear the thousand questions swirling around all Death Eater's minds as she simply turned to Bellatrix, who had collapsed into a chair and was obviously trying to comprehend what was going on. When she saw the brunette casually coming her way, a look of pure horror appeared on her face. As Katherine stepped closer, all the other Death Eaters standing near her backed off and only a few seconds later Katherine was standing right in front of the woman who had tortured and insulted her. _Regard this as your punishment!_

With a smile as fake as a three pound note the vampire pulled a small dagger out of Bellatrix's robes and handed the weapon to her, looking deep into her eyes. Then the brunette started compelling the only female Death eater. "Take this dagger and stab yourself."

Voldemort was still in slight shock because of the appearance of Katherine, but his eyes seemed to gleam with glee. _That's the Katherine I know!_, he thought proudly and felt like he was back in 1949, when she had been his Dark Lady.

Meanwhile, Bellatrix had stabbed herself with the dagger, blood dripping down from the wound on her thigh. Her lips were pressed down hard to conceal the cry of pain that she didn't want anybody to hear.

Katherine had raised her own wrist to her mouth and cut open a vein with her sharp fangs. Then she carelessly pressed it against Bellatrix' mouth, who drank the acid liquid reluctantly. "Good girl, drink up!", the vampire mused, as if she was talking to a pet. The moment she withdrew her wrist from Bellatrix' lips, the Death Eater's wound started to heal rapidly. A sly smirk appeared on Katherine's face.

Then she caught the woman's gaze with her brown eyes. "You won't stop until I tell you to. Understood?" As a response Bellatrix shot the brunette a hateful glare and stabbed herself for the second time, this time a low moan of agony could be heard.

A satisfied look on her attractive features Katherine walked a few steps away from the chair the Death Eater was sitting on and made her way towards where the Dark Lord stood, following her every move with his dark eyes. Halfway there, the vampire turned on her heel and once again addressed Bellatrix in a casual tone. "Oh, and if you get bored: switch legs!"

Then she turned her full attention to Lord Voldemort, whose expression was now composed, cold and distant again. "Merlin, somehow I had hoped for a little bit… well, _nicer_ welcome. But here I am, getting only silence." Katherine twisted a strand of brown hair around her finger. Voldemort didn't answer, he was again staring out of the window and Katherine was slowly getting frustrated. "Oh, come on Riddle! Or should I call you Lord?" She took one step in vampire speed towards him and planted herself right in front of him. _He kinda looks like a snake…_

"Open your mouth!", she demanded. Now Voldemort's eyes came to life as they moved away from whatever he had been looking at to Katherine and he frowned. "What the hell?" After that, the most beautiful sound came to his ears: Katherine's laugh. "I was just going to check if your tongue had been cut out, but now that you've decided to talk to me, this won't be necessary anymore." Her voice was full of joy as she shot him one of her cunning smiles, as she made her way to one of the black leather armchairs by the cold fireplace. While she took a seat Voldemort addressed his followers – he had found his cold voice again. "Leave! And no one is to enter this room until you are told to!"

Within a split second all baffled looking Death Eaters complied with their master's wish and soon the Dark Lord and the vampire were all alone. He still stood by the window but eventually decided to join her by the fireplace. Slowly he sat himself in the chair opposite her, his hands gripping the arm rest tightly. There was a moment of total silence before Voldemort eventually asked: "How is it possible that you are still alive?" Katherine shot him one of her looks, which made him still shiver even after almost 50 years. "You can only stake an ordinary vampire, Tom. But not an Original vampire." She hiked both her thumbs at herself and winked. "Which I am."

Voldemort shot her a questioning glance. "Which means…", he trailed off. "Which means", Katherine picked up his sentence. "That you can't kill me. There is no way to kill an Original." She interpreted the look of shock and surprise on his face the wrong way because she shot him one of her fake smiles as she said sweetly – but with a cold edge to it: "Yeah, I know. You can't get rid of me. Sorry to disappoint." Katherine elegantly got up from her chair and casually strode towards a desk where bottles of whiskey and some glasses were on display. She poured herself a glass and offered Voldemort one too, which he declined.

"Well, seems like you are stuck with me for all eternity… You and me both, sweetheart!" The 'sweetheart' had been a bad idea, because a few moments later she was being pushed against the solid wall of the room, the Dark Lord's face only inches away from hers, pure rage written all over his features. Katherine wasn't frightened at all; in fact, she looked quite bemused. "Feeling better?" She raised one eyebrow at him. And so quick that Voldemort only saw a blur of colors, she freed herself from his grip and switched positions – now she was the one pinning him against the wall. "If you want me to treat you like your pathetic little minion before, all you had to do was ask!" Then she lifted him up and swirled him through the air, aiming and throwing him back into his armchair. A shocked and angry look on his face, the Dark Lord pulled out his wand in lightning speed but Katherine didn't even move an inch.

Instead a seductive smile appeared on her face, which painfully reminded him of their history together. Memories started to surface. Memories of Katherine ripping out the heart of one of his early followers in Hogwarts, her tormenting him over and over again and always getting out of the situation without so much as a scratch. He knew that one must not make the mistake to underestimate her. Especially since she seemed to be even more powerful than a normal vampire. As if she had read his thoughts Katherine said: "Do we really have to do this again? We both know that I could rip you to shreds and do my nails at the same time."

The brunette tossed her long curls over one shoulder and looked at him nonchalantly. "But on a more serious note: it's a shame it took you 13 years to regain a, well… more or less human body…" Voldemort looked at her with that piercing glare of his, which could make every so strong person bend to his will – but it didn't have any effect on Katherine whatsoever. "You know about how I was reborn?" He sounded a little surprised. "Maybe. Maybe not.", Katherine teased him and laughed a little before her face was serious again. "But it wouldn't have taken you that long if you hadn't staked me in Albania all those years ago…" She didn't have to look at him to know that she had his full attention. With a small smile on her lips, the vampire strolled over to the floor-length window, looking out into the night. "You would be surprised at what vampire blood – let alone the blood of an Original – can do…" _Lie number one._

The Dark Lord slowly followed her to where she stood as he thought about what she had just said. Then he realized something. "Katherine?" The brunette vampire turned around upon hearing the slightly suspicious tone in his voice, fearing that her plan - _everything_ – would be revealed in an instant. Voldemort kept an ice cold look on his face. "Why were you caught with some random rebels in the forests surrounding Malfoy Manor?" _Oh shit!_

Thankfully Katherine was always able to hide what was going on in her head, so she simply shrugged. "Well, I like to make an entrance… You of all people should know that after all those years!" A shudder ran down Voldemort's spine. He didn't like the fact that she could still make him feel like that. She still made him weak in that aspect! But yet, hadn't he thought so before he had staked her? _And look what happened after that: You were defeated!_

The dark wizard flinched inwardly at the thought of the Chosen One, this boy, destroying everything he had achieved. But then a thought crossed his mind. If Katherine had stayed by his side, everything would have been different. She just said so herself that she could have resurrected him in no time. If he had her by his side this time… nothing could go wrong!

Katherine was aware of the fact that he just had had an idea. The years with him had enabled her to read parts of him like a book. The gleam in his eyes was all that gave him away, but that was enough for her. Pretending to not have noticed anything, the vampire carried on in her speech. "I thought about visiting you anyways, you know, since it has been so long…"

At that he suddenly realized something, something he hadn't thought of before. "But if you were alive all those years… Why did you come just now and not earlier?" Thank god Hermione advised me to think up possible answers beforehand, in case he gets suspicious! "Regard my absence as some sort of revenge for not trusting me and – literally – backstabbing me… But I couldn't be mad at you anymore after almost 50 years so yeah… I thought you could use some help regarding the war and everything. You know, just like old times…"

A thin smile appeared on his features, which made her freak out a little bit. _Did I get caught?_ "You are right." He sat himself in his leather armchair once again. "I could really use your help Katherine… My Dark Lady."

At that moment the doors to the room burst open and three quite angry looking Death Eaters came rushing in, pulling a struggling Wormtail behind them. "The other prisoners escaped! They are gone! And we found Wormtail in the empty dungeon, continuously saying 'I set them free. I set them free.'." There was an ice cold and merciless silence after that and Katherine as well as the Death Eaters were only waiting for the volcano that was Lord Voldemort to erupt! And when he finally did, throwing Cruciatus curses at his followers, Katherine was left alone to smirk. After all those time it still astonished her, that she could even compel people without looking at them or speaking to them… That had been exactly what she had done with Wormtail as he had led her from the dungeon to the main hall. To free Harry, Ron and Hermione while she was busy talking to Voldemort… And it had worked!

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><p>Yeah, that's it for this chapter... How did you like the meeting of Kat and our favorite villain? ;)<p>

I want to reassure you that you won't have to wait as long for the next chapter as you had to for the last two updates, because chapter 7 is already finished and I am just about to complete chapter 8 as we speak ^^ I will upload them soon...

Since today I decided on the final version of the plot and I made up my mind about the ending, which was still kind of open for me, and I know that I won't be able to let go of the Tom Riddle/Katherine Pierce pairing just yet, I will update 'Volume V - The deleted scenes of The King of Slytherin' after Volume IV is done. Also I want to ask you, if you have an idea for a TomxKat oneshot or a short story. If you do, leave me a message and I will write it just for you :D

Hoping to hear from you all soon

watercave


	8. Chapter 7: Double agent

Hello there! As promised, you don't have to wait very long for the next update! Yay!

Unfortunately I didn't get any reviews for chapter 6, but I am assuming that I deserve that for making you wait so long ;) Or that was just a sign that the chapter is bad. I have no idea.

If you remember, I made a trailer for The King of Slytherin sometime last year, and I thought that it would be time for remaking it in HD as well as adding a few new clips here and there. You can check it out here and I would be happy to get some feedback from you guys watch?v=scMc6drWSlk

Moving on to chapter 7...

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

Double Agent

Katherine had goose bumps all over her body. She felt really weak, as if she were human again. She felt like she was moving at human speed all the time - even when she wasn't – every move exhausting her even more. Being a double agent was really taking its toll! The vampire was constantly on edge, carefully paying attention that Voldemort wouldn't suspect she was not on his side while she was keeping in touch with the Order and Dumbledore' Army, an initiative founded by Hogwarts students, who were preparing for battle. Being the Dark Lord's right hand, she knew about his plans to attack Hogwarts sometime next week, so she and the Order were hoping that everything would be over in a few weeks.

Thankfully she had been able to successfully hide this from Voldemort, but she wouldn't allow herself to become careless. There was too much at stake! She must not make a mistake!

The vampire had just passes the threshold of the Malfoy Mansion without any problems and as she went by a pair of Death Eaters in the entrance hall, they stepped back and bowed their heads in respect. Every single one of the Dark Lord's men knew her status as the reinstated Dark Lady so she could freely move around the Mansion without being bothered. The vampire smirked. _Just like old times… _

Instead of taking a trip down memory lane, the brunette pushed open the heavy double doors behind which the drawing room was located. The place was dark as usual, the curtains were drawn in front of the windows to keep the sunlight out and a fire was burning in the fireplace. A quick look around the room told Katherine that she was alone. With a sigh she walked down the small set of stairs that led down to the main area and went straight for the small table next to the fireplace where a few cleaned whiskey glasses were lined up, ready to be filled.

The vampire pulled a blood bag she had gotten from a muggle hospital out of her pocket, pouring its red content into one of the glasses. She hadn't been able to drink any human blood for three days in a row because of the tasks she had to accomplish either for the Order or for Voldemort. As the first drop of blood ran down her dry throat, she immediately felt the bliss of satisfaction as her cells took in the energy of life. Even after just one sip she felt a whole lot better and the brunette was able to relax a little bit.

Just then she felt a presence behind her and – as always – she didn't need to turn around to know that it was him. "You're back.", he greeted her, his usually cold voice showing a little bit of warmth, like it always did when he was talking with her alone. Taking another sip from her drink, the vampire slowly turned around and saw his ghostly white figure standing before her, Nagini quietly hissing at his feet. "I'm back." She displayed a small smile as she was determined to keep up the pretense of being 100% on his side.

Voldmort turned and sat himself in a black leather armchair and Katherine bent down to give Nagini a few strokes, who had rolled herself into a ball at her feet. They spent a few more moments in silence until the Dark Lord spoke again. "You don't look good." There was actually a worried tone in his voice. Katherine had counted on him noticing the dark shadows under her eyes, which were slowly but surely vanishing because of the blood, and her skin, which was even paler than usual. All of that was thanks to her being unable to feed over the past few days. "Whatever.", was her short reply. She reached up where her glass full of blood was resting on the small desk beside her and downed the rest in one go. "It isn't as bad anymore as it was yesterday." With that the topic was settled.

Instead the Dark Lord inquired to hear about the task he had asked her to do for him. "Did you find anything?" Katherine took a deep breath. "No. Absolutely nothing!" That was the part she had been afraid of. Telling him that she hadn't been able to fulfill his task – knowing very well how pissed he got when his followers were unable to give him the information he wanted – and lying to him in the process.

For weeks she had been travelling all around Great Britain, pretending to find out about the current location of the Elder Wand, a wand so powerful it would be able to kill Harry Potter. Well, she had to at least act like she was serious about finding out something, because she didn't know if Death Eaters were keeping an eye on her or not. She heard him take in his breath but was surprised when he continued to speak without at least raising his voice. "Well, that is too bad… But don't worry, maybe Bella had more luck." The vampire was still amazed that she seemed to be the only one he wasn't angry at when she screwed up.

She strolled around the room, looking at the portrait gallery of the ancestors of the Malfoys, when a group of excited Death eaters entered the room, Bellatrix leading them. As the witch set eyes on Katherine, her eyes narrowed, but she also flinched back a little bit. She had obviously not forgotten the 'welcome treatment' the vampire had given her.

"What is this all about?" Yep, there was his I-am-the-boss – tone back in his voice! "We found out what you wanted to know, my Lord!" The excitement in Bellatrix' voice was more than apparent and her eyes widened more and more. "Well, that is good news." Voldemort slowly got up from his seat and Katherine knew that he was only acting the calm and slightly bored part. On the inside she was sure that he was completely ecstatic, knowing how much he wanted the powerful wand.

"Where is it?" Not even in his voice was the smallest hint that would give away that he could be happy. Bellatrix' voice became incredibly high pitched, so eager she was to tell her master. "In Dumbledore's grave!"

There was a moment of deafening silence and after that Katherine perceived everything in slow motion. Voldemort rushed over to where she stood, Nagini also jerking forward and the instant he grabbed her arm she felt the vertigo characteristic for apparating sucking her in.

The instant the swirl of grey and green ended, the vampire was hit by a strong wind, which instantly attacked her and tore at her skin, which was not really painful but it was freezing cold. She looked around herself and took in her surroundings. The brunette was greatly surprised to see Hogwarts from afar and with a start she realized where she was. On the small isle that was located in the middle of the Black Lake! Keeping her surprise in check this time was a bit harder but thank God, her back had been facing Voldemort, so she was safe. _I swear, when all this ends I'll be an emotional wreck!_ If _this ends, that is…_

She turned around to find him standing a few steps away from her, waiting for her to come to him. As she did, he turned and led her wordlessly towards a cubic and futuristic looking construction, which seemed to be made out of white marble, Nagini slithering across the ground behind him. Her experience in how to act around him advised her to not ask any questions and to just follow him like she knew everything that went on in his mind.

"This is the tombstone of Albus Dumbledore…" Voldemort didn't raise his voice but thanks to Katherine's heightened senses she could easily hear him over the wind that was blowing around them. Again, the vampire didn't answer and just continued to follow him until they were standing right in front of the white construction. Voldemort lifted his wand and his lips moved ever so slightly, murmuring a spell. Soon, the earth shook a little under their feet but except for that, nothing happened.

The brunette felt him tense beside her and she was sure that he was boiling with anger inside. He did not like it when something he did didn't work. Before anything could happen, Katherine laid a hand on his shoulder, which should be somewhat of a calming and reassuring gesture, and stepped forward. "I guess you want to open it, right?" She turned her head to look at him and saw him nod, his signature smirk, which he had already had back when he was Tom Riddle, appearing on his features as he realized what she was just about to do.

Katherine mirrored his smirk as she turned around and laid her hands onto the cold surface. Then she used all her vampire strength and pushed. _Forgive me, Professor Dumbledore! _With a loud crack the part of the tombstone that blocked the entrance was moved out of its original position and the entrance was free. With a smile the vampire gestured towards the hole that seemed to lead into the grave. "After you, my Lord." Wordlessly Voldemort swept past her, ascending white marble stairs which led into the darkness. A look from his dark eyes told her to wait, which she gladly did.

_Okay, what if the Elder Wand is really there? What is he going to do then?_ Katherine let out a shaky breath as she allowed her worry to escape her internal barriers for a few seconds. But soon the Dark Lord came out of the grave again, Nagini behind him, his face not giving away if this mission had ended in failure or success. She looked expectantly at him but he let another moment pass by until he silently raised his right hand, in which he held the Elder Wand!

The vampire's heart – if it wasn't dead already – would surely have skipped a beat or two. _Damn it! He found it!_ She quite successfully managed to feign a smile, as she pretended to let out a relieved sigh. "Finally." Voldemort couldn't help himself but to smile at her reaction. He felt as if he was on top of the world right now!

"Let's return to the Mansion… We need to set everything in motion for the attack on Hogwarts!"

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><p>What did you guys think about this update?<p>

Or let's ask this way: Are there at least some people out there who are reading this?

Okay, enough of my worried antics! See you in the next chapter!

Take care,

watercave


	9. Chapter 8: The calm before the storm

Here is the next chapter for The King of Slytherin... Oh my god, I Can't believe it's going to end soon... Only around four more chapters to go... :( Sad times...

Oh well, I am soooo glad that I got three reviews for the last chapter - I really thought you all abandoned this story :/ A huge thanks goes to Luna Raven Ottery, Guest and Guest ^^ Love you!

I hope you enjoy chapter 8...

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

The calm before the storm

Katherine's whole body was shivering as she stood in an empty room made out of black marble in the headquarter of the _Circle_. Vilhelm stood in front of her, a worried look on his face. "Last week I noticed you getting thinner and thinner as the days went by and now you are shivering like dry leaves in the wind." His wise eyes never left hers as he went on. "I am really worried about you…" Katherine managed to suppress the urge to shiver for a bit. "You are not the only one! _He_ is also slightly worried." She couldn't help herself as she snorted. "Pretty out-of-character from him, don't you think?"

Vilhelm's voice remained calm. "Not when it comes to you. Remember, he seemed to be glad when you 'joined' his ranks again… I guess you really left an impact on him during your time as his Dark Lady." Katherine shrugged. "Whatever. That's not what we wanted to talk about, is it?" He chuckled as he turned to look out of the single window of the room. "So, he is planning on attacking Hogwarts in the next two or three days?" This was the first time since her arrival tonight, that Katerine detected a tone of worry in his voice. "Yeah. That's what he told me yesterday. I came as quickly as I could without arousing suspicion." Vilhelm nodded in understanding. "We are really grateful to have someone like you on our side… We passed the information of the impending attack on Hogwarts to the Order. They are preparing everything for the worst-case scenario…"

A heavy silence followed after that and Katherine shifted her weight from one foot to another. Finally she broke the uncomfortable silence. "So, what do you want me to do when the attack takes place?" The Original sighed. "I already spoke to Kingsley and Lupin about that and we came to a mutual understanding, that it would be best if you would reveal your real identity at the very end…" Katherine nodded in understanding. One side of her couldn't wait for the war to finally come to an end, but there was also this other side, which she had tried to not pay attention to, but with the final battle coming closer, it was impossible for her to ignore – the thought of failing and Voldemort fully steadying his reign.

Vilhelm sighed and turned to look at the brunette. "In the end it is up to you to decide on the right moment… Kiril and a few others of our men will be there as well, so if there should be some drastic and unpredictable change of events, you'll be informed." Katherine nodded again to show that she had understood him. "That is all." The brunette gave Vilhelm a small smile and made her way towards the door. Before she left the room, the head of the _Circle_ addressed her one last time. "Oh and Katerina… Good luck!" This time her smile was a little bit brighter. "Thanks Sir… I guess I'll see you around."

Katherine didn't recognize herself anymore. As soon as she arrived at her room in Malfoy Manor, there was no need for her to mask her weakness anymore and so she simply collapsed onto her king-sized bed. The black silk sheets, embroidered with the Malfoy family crest in green and silver, were cool against her skin and her eyes did only barely focus on the crystal chandelier, which/that hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room.

Her condition had gotten worse over the past week and she figured that was because of the constant tension she was under, being a double agent and paying extreme attention to the fact, that she didn't accidently blow her cover in front of _him_. The vampire slowly sat up – an action, which cost her much more energy than normally – and opened the top drawer of her bedside table. Three older blood bags from a hospital lay there and she opened all three of them one after another and drained them from their contents. She frowned as the strange taste, that was common for blood, which was not fresh, and found that she was only feeling a tiny bit better and not completely, which she had hoped for.

An exasperated sigh escaped her lips as she threw the empty blood bags across her room in a sudden outburst of anger and strength and to her own surprise, she felt tears starting to well up in her eyes. She hadn't cried in… well, to be honest, she couldn't even remember the last time she had cried… The brunette sat on her luxurious bed, letting her tears run down her face, doing nothing to stop them. Inside of her, she felt all the pain from constantly distorting herself being freed from the space where she had locked up all of her unwanted feelings. She felt that if all this would go on for a longer amount of time, she would eventually break.

To tell the truth, this process, which was inevitably leading to Katherine's breakdown, hadn't started when she 'joined' _him_ again… At that moment, sitting alone on her bed, she finally realized the truth. It had all started on a fateful day in May 1943… when her former self Katerina Petrova had been killed by the Basilisk of the Chamber of Secrets. Since then her life hadn't been the same anymore. Her being a vampire, faced with the task to destroy the most powerful dark wizard ever known to man, all that had been slowly but surely damaging her from the inside. And these were the signs for the advancing process she couldn't stop.

It was all _his_ fault! If it hadn't been for _him_ and his little minions at Hogwarts, she would have never felt so humiliated to run and hide inside the girl's bathroom on the second floor, only to be killed a few moments later! If it hadn't been for _his_ mere existence, which resulted in the Prophecy being made, she wouldn't be facing this tremendous task. Maybe, her parents would still be human and she could have lived a normal childhood with them in a small house in Bulgaria, instead of living the first eleven years of her life in that horrible orphanage. She could have had a normal life…

A knock on the door brought her back into reality. She straightened herself, wiped away her tears and allowed whoever was standing outside to enter. The brunette totally didn't expect _him_ to come in through the door – _Since when did the Dark Lord knock?_ This wasn't the only thing that was odd. His snake-like face actually showed a tiny bit of emotion – other than hatred, rage or complete expressionlessness that is – as he laid eyes on her. His look then went to the empty blood bags at the far end of the room and back to her. "What is wrong?" Katherine slightly jumped at the suddenness of his voice, which – after minutes of total silence – sounded extremely loud to the vampire's ears. God, she really was a total wreck!

Her reaction didn't went unnoticed by him and he stepped closer, the unusual look of worry now even more apparent on his face. Finally the brunette managed to answer his question. "I have no idea myself… I drank three blood bags but I just don't feel better… Maybe it's because I need fresh blood." Voldemort simply nodded in understanding and after a moment he motioned for her to follow him out of her room.

Katherine got up from the bed and shakily moved towards him. They then proceeded to walk down the hallway, which led to the entrance hall of the manor. Occasionally there would be Death Eaters or servants coming from the opposite direction, but upon seeing the Dark Lord _and_ his Lady, they would instantly drop their gaze to the floor, bow and hurriedly turn around to walk away, as to avoid having to pass them.

To Katherine's surprise, the usually quiet entrance hall was bustling with noise, as many Death Eaters were standing together in groups, discussing things or reading notes, which had been passed to them. It didn't take very long for their master's presence to be noticed and when that happened, the whole room fell silent in an instant. Then the assembly, which was clothed entirely in black, fell to their knees, perfectly synchronized, showing their respect to _him_ and her in that way.

Voldemort systematically scanned the crowd in front of him, until he seemed to have found what he was looking for – whatever that was. "You." He shot a short Cruciatus in the intended direction and a young man with light brown hair hurriedly got up to his feet, head still lowered. "Y-Yes, my Lord?" His voice was barely above a whisper as he was trembling with fear. "I want you to get me that Squib from the dungeon and into the drawing room." Without another word, the young man began to make his way into the direction of the dungeons as fast as he could, as to not give his master a reason to lash out at him.

Without giving his followers another look, Voldemort entered the drawing room, the vampire following close behind. Once the doors had closed behind them, Katherine moved towards the nearest chair and sat down, exhausted from the short distance they had covered. _This is extremely annoying!_ She lifted her head and saw the Dark Lord anxiously pacing in front of her, an air of impatience surrounding him. Despite her current condition, the vampire couldn't help herself but smile weakly. She was somehow glad, that some things hadn't changed.

At this moment, the double doors swung open and a woman in her late 40's was led into the room by the young Death Eater. She had a dreamy look on her face and it was clear to Katherine that she was under the Imperius Curse.

"Leave." The young man seemed to be very relieved, that he wasn't required to stay in his master's presence for much longer. After the door had closed behind the Death Eater's back, Voldemort turned to the vampire and motioned to the Squib. "Your meal."

Something inside of the brunette protested against killing an innocent woman, but the prospect of fresh blood was too tempting to resist! The side of her, which thirsted for blood, took control of her actions and she slowly got up, as to not scare her prey, and came to stand in front of the woman, who looked at her with that strange smile characteristic for people under the Imperius Curse. Normally Katherine would compel the person, on whom she was about to feed on, to not scream or struggle, but now she could not muster up the mental strength for a compulsion; she hoped the Imperius Curse would help her a little.

She felt the familiar veins under her eyes turning dark and protruding from her skin and her fangs started to appear. With a swift motion, she sunk her teeth into the slightly wrinkled skin of the woman's neck, perfectly piercing the carotid artery, her victim letting out a surprised gasp. The vampire had to suppress a moan of pleasure, as the rich blood left the woman's body drop by drop and ran down her throat. She heard her victim's heartbeat slow down until it was only a faint pulse. And when the body went completely limb in the vampire's arms, she let the corpse fall onto the marble floor.

The feeling after feeding was just incredible! Every cell in her body had soaked up the life energy of the blood and for the first time in weeks, the brunette felt _alive_ – in a vampire way at least. She hadn't realized how much she had missed this.

"Feeling better?" Voldemort had stopped pacing the room and stood by the cold fireplace. Katherine wiped the remains of the blood from her lips and let out a relieved sigh. "Never been better!", was her simple reply. It was really astonishing what wonders fresh human blood could do! The brunette felt like she had been born again. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Voldemort relax and the worried look on his face was gone. "Good. Very good." _Wait, was that a smile on the Dark Lord's face?_ Katherine blinked a few times but nothing changed. He was really sporting an uncharacteristic smile. _That's… weird, to say the least._

Katherine stepped closer to come to stand next to him. There was silence between them for a few seconds, before he turned his head to look at her. "That was a good idea for you to feed. I need you and all your strength at its best tomorrow!" Katherine also looked at him, her brows furrowed in question. Did she miss something?

Voldemort explained himself just a couple of moments later – but she didn't like what she heard.

"We are going to attack Hogwarts tomorrow evening."

That wasn't good news.

Not at all… Quite the opposite actually.

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><p>Okay, so since the story is slowly but surely coming to an end, I wanted to know your ideas on how you think, The King of Slytherin is going to end. I am looking forward to your suggestions XD<p>

Lots of love coming your way,

watercave


	10. Chapter 9: Getting in

Here I am with chapter nine! I apologize again for the lack of updates, but now I finally have holidays, so I will have more time to write :)

As always, I would like to thank **Trulzxoxo**, **odetted99** and **BritneyandHarryPotterForever ** for your lovely reviews! This chapter is for you guys!

This chapter and the following ones are inspired by the last Harry Potter movie and novel. Therefore they contain lines from both the movie and the book. I do not own these lines, they are owned by J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Getting in

Normally Katherine Pierce was very happy that she had heightened senses, which would always give her an advantage when facing enemies or going after prey. But right at this very instant, the vampire wished she possessed human – normal – hearing senses, or better, none at all!

A loud and painful shriek pierced through the chilly evening air as Katherine stood on the main street of Hogsmeade, the small village near Hogwarts. It would have been very kind of him, if he had informed her of the fact, that the Caterwauling Charm had been placed on the village by Death Eaters. But on the other hand she could understand if he had simply forgotten about it, since he had his mind on so many other things.

Today was the 2nd of May, 1998. The day of the attack on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Dark Lord had assembled his army in the Forest before Hogwarts, only waiting for his order to make their presence known to the other side. Before he left Malfoy Manor to join his followers in the forest, Voldemort had given her the task of sneaking into the castle and trying to make it easier for the army of Death Eaters, Dementors and giants to break through the boundaries of the castle. This was almost a sign from heaven for Katherine, because this way she could get into the castle to pass last-minute information on to the Order. She had made an agreement with Aberforth Dumbledore, the younger brother of Albus Dumbledore, to come to his inn at 7 p.m. to use a secret passageway, which was the only way to get into the castle as of now.

She had been walking into the village and was just about to go to where Aberforth's inn called the 'Hog's Head' was located, when the alarm went off. This is just great! The battle hasn't even started yet… From where she was standing, she saw a few Death Eaters storm out of the 'Three Broomsticks', shouting furiously and Katherine heard the name 'Potter' a few times. At that moment it hit her! Could it be that Harry, Ron and Hermione were in Hogsmeade with her, at this very moment? She tried her best to shut out the shrieking of the Caterwauling Charm, and listened closely to any other signs of life beside herself and the Death Eaters on the streets. And almost instantly she located three beating hearts, hiding away in the shadows of a small street not far from her. Bingo!

Her brain was rapidly looking for a way to get herself and the Trio, whom she presumed to have the same goal as her, into the castle and to not alert the Death Eaters to Harry, Ron and Hermione being here. And all of a sudden a solution popped up inside her head and her signature smirk appeared on her face. Since she was the Dark Lady, why not take advantage of that privilege?

The brunette took one last calming breath, before she stepped out of the shadows into the vision of the Death Eaters. "Oi! I've got the intruder!" The man, who was the first one to notice her, aimed his wand at her and shot a stunning spell in her direction. Katherine casually lifted her own wand as she easily blocked the red beam of light. Sometimes she wondered how some of the Death Eaters managed to become his followers. A third year would have been able to block that spell!

By now, three men clothed in black had approached her, ready to interrogate her. The vampire simply stood there, waiting for them patiently, a small smile playing on her lips. She really had to force herself, to keep herself from bursting out laughing, as the satisfied and jovial expressions on the Death Eater's faces quickly morphed into looks of shock and then into complete embarrassment, as they recognized their Dark Lady. "Oh… Errr… Well, that is…" Within a blink of an eye, the smile on Katherine's face disappeared and was replaced by a stone cold expression as she stared the three Death Eaters in front of her down.

"I think you should go back to your posts, don't you think so? I am on a mission for the Dark Lord." The men bowed their heads in a respectful way and slowly walked back to the 'Three Broomsticks'. After she was completely sure, that no other Death Eaters were around, she hurriedly made her way into the direction, where she had located the Golden Trio.

Words couldn't describe how glad the brunette was to see the three in front of her, alive. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at her with surprised looks and Katherine quickly told them the most important things – that she needed to find the 'Hog's Head' to get into the caste – in a quiet voice and the Trio didn't answer, they just motioned for her to follow them, which she did.

Soon, they were standing in front of the 'Hog's Head', no lights could be seen behind the windows and Katherine was already setting up a plan, how to get into the inn without making any noise and making a mental note to herself to kick Aberforth's ass, for not keeping their arranged meeting. But that thought became irrelevant the very moment, when a dark figure opened the wooden door and ushered them inside – Katherine was able to see the man, who had been shown to her in a picture two days before; Aberforth Dumbledore. The brunette walked in first, signaling the Trio, that this wasn't a trap. They didn't really have time to think, as the thought of being caught was enough to make them follow her.

The 'Hog's Head' was very different from the 'Three Broomsticks'. The inn was small and a few candles here and there illuminated the scene. True to the name, the head of a boar decorated the wall behind the counter and Katherine could easily imagine, that this pub was frequented by people who had something to do with Dark Magic. A portrait of a young woman, who was watching them with a ghost of a smile on her lips, hung over the fireplace, in which a small fire was burning and giving warmth to the room.

Ron was the last one of the four to enter the inn and while Aberforth was busy locking the door safely, the redhead tapped Harry and Hermione's shoulders. "Did you get a look at him? For a second I thought it was-" The witch didn't let him finish his sentence, as she had thought the same. "I know. Dumbledore." After that there was silence and the Trio took a closer look around the inn. Katherine inspected the wall to her left and stopped short as she saw a mirror, which did not show her reflection but Harry's. "Harry?", she called out to him. "I can see you in this!" The vampire didn't get an answer so she turned around and saw Harry looking into a shard of what had been a mirror once. Then it hit her. These must be two-way mirrors! Some sort of device, to keep in contact with the person who has the other piece.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and Aberforth came in, a grumpy look on his wrinkled face. "You bloody fools. What were you thinking coming here? Have you any idea how dangerous it is?" As if realizing, that Katherine was also there, he quickly turned to her and almost bowed in her direction. "Of course I don't blame you, Miss Katherine. We have an arrangement after all." After that the brunette received questioning looks from Ron and Hermione, but she didn't get a chance to explain, as Harry, who had his eyes intently fixed on the older man, stated his assumption.

"You're Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother. It's you who I've been seeing in here." As some sort of emphasis, he lifted up the splinter in his hand. Aberforth didn't answer as he turned his back on the four people and observed the quiet streets of Hogsmeade outside the window. "Who gave that to you? The mirror?" Harry stepped forward, eager to know the answer. "Mundungus Fletcher, about a year ago." Dumbledore's brother's voice was nonchalant, as if he didn't care about anything. Harry stood in stark contrast to him as he raised his voice. "Dung had no right selling that. It belonged to-" "Sirius." Again, the man's tone remained calm and collected. "Albus told me."

Now he turned around and walked away from the window, towards the Trio and the vampire. "He also told me you'd likely be hacked off if you ever found out I had it, but ask yourself, where would you be if I didn't?" The four did not answer his question and by the looks of it, he hadn't even expected an answer, as he walked behind the counter of the inn and prepared something to eat and drink for them. He even offered Katherine a mug full of goat blood, but the vampire refused it with a forced smile on her lips. She couldn't stand the peculiar taste of animal blood and wondered how some vampires could survive by only hunting animals. It was simply beyond her. Hermione and Ron dug in thankfully, as they seemed to have not eaten in days. Harry simply stayed in his position next to the crackling fireplace.

Katherine made herself comfortable on a wooden chair and stretched her limbs. "So Kat, what is this arrangement Aberforth spoke of?" The vampire sighed. "Right, I haven't had the chance to tell you. Well, He wants me to sneak into the castle and to make it easier for him and his army to get in. But in reality I will meet up with the Order and discuss some new information and stuff…" The Trio nodded in understanding and there was s little bit of silence, which was interrupted by Hermione, as she addresses Aberforth. "Do you hear from the others much? From the Order?" The old man sneered. "The Order's finished. You-Know-Who's won! Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves."

Katherine had to force her mouth to stay shut, otherwise she would have burst out laughing. _The Order and finished?_ That wasn't really the case. Harry didn't react to his words either, he simply changed the subject. "We need to get into Hogwarts, tonight. Dumbledore gave us a job to do." Aberforth didn't seem the least bit surprised. "Did he now?" His next words were dripping with sarcasm. "Nice job? Easy?" Again, the boy who lived managed to keep calm and continued to make his point clear. "We've been hunting Horcruxes.", he offered as some sort of explaination. "We think the last one's inside the castle, but we'll need your help getting in."

At this Katherine chimed in. "Perfect!" She stood up and strolled to where Harry stood and looked at Aberforth. "Because I need to get into Hogwarts too, you'll kill two birds with one stone, right Ab?" The man shot her a death glare, which would have made her shrink a few inches, if she was still her old insecure, pre-vampire self. "Don't ever call me by that name again!", he growled between gritted teeth. The brunette simply put her hands up and moved out of his line of vision. "Sorry."

Aberforth turned back to Harry, an indifferent look on his features. _Mood swings much?_, Katherine thought to herself, as she continued to observe the scene unfolding before her. "That's not a job my brother's given you. It's a suicide mission. Do yourself a favor, boy, go home. Live a little longer!" "Dumbledore trusted me to see this through." Harry did not once hesitate, for he was convinced with the task the former Headmaster of Hogwarts had given him. But his brother didn't back off either. "What makes you think you can trust him? What makes you think you can believe anything my brother told you? In all the time you knew him, did he ever mention my name?"

_He does have a point…_ Katherine sighed and threw a quick look out of the window. They couldn't stay here forever, though. Aberforth didn't give Harry an opportunity to answer his question, as he pointed towards the moving portrait of a young woman clad in a light blue dress, that hung over the fireplace. "Did he ever mention hers?"

Harry seemed dumbfounded. "Why should he-" "Keep secrets? You tell me." "I trusted him!" "That's a boy's answer." Aberforth started to raise his voice, as he stepped closer to Harry. "A boy who's chasing Horcruxees on the word of a man, who wouldn't even tell him where to start! You're lying! Not just to me, that doesn't matter. To yourself as well! That's what a fool does. You don't strike me as a fool, Harry Potter." He paused for a second, to let his words sink in. "So, I'll ask you again. There must be a reason."

It took a while before Harry answered. "I'm not interested in what happened between you and your brother. I don't care that you've given up. I trusted the man I knew." He paused to emphasize his following words. "And we need to get into the castle tonight."

By now, Aberforth was standing right in front of the Chosen One, and his eyes searched the younger boy's for something – Katherine couldn't tell what it was. Eventually, the old man heaved a sigh and turned to the woman in the painting. "You know what to do." The young woman nodded solemnly and turned around, her dark brown hair trailing behind her as she walked down the painted road, which seemed to lead into nowhere. A slight bit of panic was in his voice, as Harry looked back at Dumbledore's brother. "Where have you sent her?" "You'll see soon enough." Then he walked towards a small table next to a door, which led to a staircase, and poured himself a drink.

Before he disappeared upstairs, Hermione and Ron came to stand next to Harry. "That's your sister Ariana, isn't it?" At Hermione's words Aberforth stopped in his tracks. "She died very young, didn't she?" He turned around to face them, a tone of sadness in his words. "My brother sacrificed many things, Mr. Potter, on his journey to find power, including Ariana. And she was devoted to him. He gave her everything but time." Hermione gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Mr. Dumbledore." The old man gave a curt nod and then he left them alone in the inn.

Faced with Harry and Ron's questioning faces, as if to say 'What was that for?', Hermione shrugged. "He did save our lives! Kept an eye on us in that mirror." Then she leaned in to Harry and whispered: "That doesn't seem like someone who's given up." There was a moment of silence after that and every one of them dwelled on their own thoughts. Katherine was closely observing the portrait of Ariana Dumbledore, and squinted her eyes when she thought she saw some movement in there. The vampire was the first one of them to see it and Hermione reassured her, she was not the only one. "She's coming back!"

And she was not alone! They could clearly make out a dark shadow following Ariana closely. "Who's that with her?" Not only Ron was asking himself that. As Ariana brought the mysterious person closer to them, the Trio stepped back, assuming the worst. That Aberforth had indeed led them into a trap! Their hands reached for their wands and as the portrait slowly swung open, Katherine prepared herself to fight what or who would come at them. The seconds crept by at an unnervingly slow pace as the portrait began to reveal-

"Neville?" Not only Harry, but also Ron and Hermione seemed to know the young man, who was standing before them, a wand in his hand. His face was full of scratches and cuts, which caused the Trio to gasp in unison. "Uhm, you look-" "Like hell, I reckon. This is nothing! Seamus is worse." At that Katherine realized, that this must be a fellow Hogwarts student and friend. Neville smiled and spoke to Aberforth, who had reappeared because of the noise. "Hey Ab, we've got a couple more coming through." Katherine had to stifle a laugh, as she saw how the older man shot Neville the exact same deathly glare he had presented the vampire with earlier on.

"Oh, and this must be… Katherine Pierce, right?" The brunette turned her head and saw that Neville had indeed spoken to her. "Yeah… How do you-" He broke out into a huge grin. "The Order told us. We all know about you coming. I was supposed to get you, but I absolutely don't mind taking you guys with us too." The last part was directed at the Trio and the five shared a round of laughter. Then they set off into the tunnel, to which the entrance was Ariana Dumbledore's portrait.

_Phase one, commence! _

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><p>Okay, so the final battle is about to begin any moment... Will you be with Katherine and the Trio when everything comes to a close? (sorry, that sounded a little movie trailer-ish ^^)<em><br>_

I hope to hear from you guys :)

Have an awesome day and until next time!

watercave


	11. Chapter 10: Reunion

Hello there!

Here I am, delivering chapter 10 to you! :) Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but I had lost my inspiration for a bit... But now it is back! YAY! ^^

I would like to thank **Let96** for the nice review and all of you who have been adding this story to their favorites and such! :D

Same as the last chapter, this one and also the following ones are based on the movie _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2_ and therefore you should find pieces of dialogue from the movie in there. I just want to say that I don't own these bits from the script! :)

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

Reunion

"Let's have a bit of fun, shall we?" Neville smirked as he and his four companions had arrived at the end of the secret passageway. The Trio furrowed their brows and Katherine also had no clue what he was talking about. They soon knew what the tall Gryffindor had meant, as he swung open what seemed to be a portrait and at the same time the door to the passageway, and revealed a huge room filled with countless Hogwarts students sitting either on the floor or on cushions. Tents were built up here and there and hammocks were suspended from the ceiling and huge pillars.

The chattering of the students stopped as Neville called out to them. "Hey, listen up, you lot. Brought you a surprise." A guy – also a Gryffindor, judging from the red and gold trims on his rather damaged looking cardigan – with a strong northern accent frowned. "Not more of Aberforth's cooking, I hope. Be a surprise if we can digest it." Instead of answering his fellow classmate, Neville stepped aside to reveal Harry to the people in the room. There was a moment of silence at first but then everyone got up and started clapping excitedly, shouting and laughing at the return of the 'Chosen One'.

Slowly the Trio and Katherine followed Neville down a ladder and as they reached the ground they were welcomed by their friends and fellow students. The vampire stayed at the back, unnoticed, and watched the reunion of the three Gryffindors with the students in the room. A lot of hugs were shared and laughter filled the air. At this moment a boy with dirty blonde hair came to Neville, who turned his head to look at him and gave him an order. "Nigel! Get the word out to Remus and the others that Harry's back!" Nigel nodded and was just about to walk away, as Neville called him back. He had almost forgotten another thing. "Oh and also tell them that 'a cat was found and taken in by a group of wizards'!" The boy furrowed his brows and looked at Neville questioningly. "Katherine Pierce is the 'cat'." The Gryffindor made a hand movement in the direction where the vampire stood and realization dawned on Nigel's features. "Oh. Right. Be right back!" He then ran over to a make-shift radio station and put on a pair of headphones to send out the message Neville wanted him to deliver to the Order.

Now it was time for Neville to interrupt the little welcome back celebration for Harry. "Okay, okay, let's not kill him before You-Know-Who and his army are here!" After he had the attention of every person in the room, he gestured for Katherine to come stand next to him, which she did. "This is Katherine Pierce, the ally the Order told us about and who spent some quality time with You-Know-Who." The vampire rolled her eyes at the last sentence. _He could have said that part a bit different, right? _There was a slightly awkward silence after that but the students seemed to know who she was. "Hey there." The brunette smiled a little and waved at the countless young men and women facing her.

A young woman with light brown curls looked her way, an intrigued look in her eyes. She seemed like she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the right words. Eventually she lifted her head and looked Katherine straight in the eye. "Errrr, well… I hope you don't mind me asking, but… how did you end up spending 'quality time' with… you know…" The vampire pondered over her question for a bit, deciding that she didn't want to talk about the past at this particular moment. Plus, she knew it would take a lot of time and that was something that they didn't have en masse. "That's a veeery long story and I understand we don't have that much time." That was what she considered a good answer and with a quick glance at Neville she saw, that he appreciated it very much. "But I have a request to make…" Something had crossed Katherine's mind and she wanted to tell everybody since she didn't know if she would get a chance later on. "If you see me on You-Know-Who's side during the battle, pretend that you don't know me, okay? Since I have to keep up the pretense of being on You-Know-Who's side." Murmurs as a sign of understanding arose from the students and the brunette nodded at them with a thankful look on her face.

Neville turned his attention back on Harry and folded his arms over his chest. "Well... What's the plan, Harry?" The boy who lived looked from Neville over all his friends in front of him, the same expectant look on each of their faces. He sighed. "Okay. There's something we need to find. Something hidden here in the castle. And it may help us defeat You-Know-Who." Hermione, Ron and Katherine immediately knew he was talking about a Horcrux. The vampire furrowed her brows. There was still one left? _How many had _he _created, in Merlin's name?_ "Right. What is it?" Harry looked at Neville. "We don't know." "Where is it?" This time there was a slightly painful look on Harry's face, as he answered. "We don't know that either." Even though she knew how serious this was, Katherine couldn't keep her sarcastic half from commenting in her head. _Talk about being specific._

"I realize it's not much to go on." The Gryffindor with the northern accent, which Katherine had identified as Irish by now, spoke up again. "That's nothing to go on." Ignoring his classmate's comment Harry turned to face the vampire, a glint in his eyes as if he just had had an idea. "Oh right! Kat, I guess you could help us!" The brunette didn't know what he had in mind but she shrugged. "Maybe. Spill!" "Do you know what Ho-" The 'Chosen One' was able to catch himself, before he could say 'Horcrux'. His friends didn't seem to know about the pieces of Voldemort's soul and the boy who lived seemingly wanted to keep it that way. "-what You-Know-Who _used _that has something to do with the house of Ravenclaw?" He put extra emphasis on the word 'used', and the vampire immediately knew what he was talking about.

A scene played out in front of her eyes, a memory of the night she had found the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw in the forests of Albania and how Voldemort had staked her shortly after. She shook her head slightly, as if to make the memory go away, which it did. "Yes… and no." A confused look was all she got from the Trio. "I know he looked for and found the diadem of Ravenclaw" – gasps of surprise could be heard throughout the room because of the mention of the long lost diadem – "but I don't know if he really used it or not, since I was, well… in no position to get such sort of information any more…" Katherine received lifted eyebrows and looks of confusion from the other Hogwarts students surrounding them, but the Trio knew that she was talking about her being stabbed by Voldemort back in 1949. Harry nodded slowly as he thought about the next step. "Okay… Thanks. But at least that's some sort of a lead!"

He then turned to everyone in the room. "Does someone of you have an idea, where the diadem could be hidden?" Before anyone had the chance to answer his question, a huge door appeared at one side of the room and as it swung open and ginger haired young woman came rushing into the room. The vampire noticed that she had a striking resemblance to Ron. The young woman stopped short as she saw Harry standing in front of the crowd, eyes wide. "Harry." She didn't say more but this one word held so many emotions because of the way she had said it, and judging from how the black haired young man looked at her, Katherine knew that there was something going on between these two. A smile appeared on her face. _Maybe his girlfriend?_

Ron waved at the young woman from behind Harry, but she didn't react. She had only eyes for Harry. "Six months she hasn't seen me and it's like I'm Frankie First-Year. I'm her brother.", he complained to Hermione, who simply rolled her eyes at him. The guy with the Irish accent chimed in. "She has lots of those. There's only one Harry." Ron sent a death glare in his direction. "Shut up, Seamus." The smile on the vampire's face grew into a huge grin. The small banter between those two had made her forget for the tiniest fraction of a second what they were here for.

Neville was the one to speak up again. "What is it, Ginny?" He seemed to be the only one in the room who had sensed the anxiety of the ginger haired young woman. His instincts had been right, for her voice was shaking as she answered Neville. "Snape knows. He knows that Harry was spotted in Hogsmeade."

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><p>Well, with the end of this series coming closer, I wanted to know from you, how you think <em>The King of Slytherin<em> will end! Leave a review to let me know :)

See you & all the best!

watercave


	12. Chapter 11: Security problem

Hello my dear readers!

Finally, after weeks of not writing ANYTHINg except for my term paper, I am back! :) I hope you guys like this new chapter and from now on I hope I'll be able to update more frequently... Although my exams are coming up, soooo... Well, I'll do my best! :)

Thank you to all the awesome people that have started following this story! *hugs*

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><p>Chapter 11<p>

Security Problem

Katherine was careful to not make any noise that could be heard inside the Great Hall. Well, if she did, it surely couldn't be heard through the massive wooden doors that were closed and locked securely. It was just that the dead silence in the Great Hall was so overwhelming, that the vampire involuntarily held her breath – which didn't harm her at all. She was dead, after all.

Suddenly a whooshing sound could be heard and soon after that, strong and determined footsteps echoed through the hall. _Seems like the headmaster himself has appeared…_ The footsteps walked up the few steps that led to the podium where the table of the teachers was usually located. There was a moment of silence after that, but then Katherine heard the new headmaster of Hogwarts speak up. "Many of you are surely wondering why I have summoned you at this hour." There was no reply and the man, whose name was Snape, if the brunette remembered correctly, hadn't expected one, as he continued. "It has come to my attention that earlier this evening" – now the silence in the Great Hall was suffocating – "Harry Potter was sighted in Hogsmeade."

Whispers and murmurs erupted from the previously silent students, the mere mention of the Boy Who Lived causing them to ignore their fear of the headmaster. But Snape easily had the young men and women in front of him under control again. "Now… Should anyone, student or staff, attempt to aid Mr. Potter… They will be punished in a manner consistent with the severity of their transgression. Furthermore… Any person found to have knowledge of these events… who fails to come forward… will be treated… as equally guilty." Even though she was standing outside the Great Hall, hiding away in the shadows, Katherine felt shivers run down her spine. The calm and emotionless voice of the headmaster, whom she remembered to be one of _his_ most trusted Death Eaters, reminded her of _him_, although Snape's voice had a different edge to it. The brunette couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something that stuck out to her.

"Now then…" She heard the ruffling of fabric and she knew that the headmaster had come down from his spot on the podium to slowly walk down the aisle between the assembled students. "If anyone here has any knowledge of Mr. Potter's movements this evening… I invite them to step forward… _now_." Snape didn't even raise his voice, but the way he said the word 'now' made everyone's blood freeze. _And I though the silence before was suffocating…_

Katherine was the first one to hear it. Someone in the hall – other than Snape – had moved from his or her spot. The loud gasps and the short commotion that followed left the vampire with a pretty good guess as to _who_ had stepped forward. _Harry!_ The vampire activated all of her senses, as to not miss any single thing that was going on in the Great Hall.

But she was distracted by heavy footsteps on the stone floor behind her and she swirled around, ready to take on whatever had crept up behind her. She almost let out a small laugh of relief, as she saw a few members of the Order and Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and other students, who seemed to belong to Dumbledore's Army, an organization of students Lupin had told her about once, standing there. Her whole body relaxed in an instant and the members of the Order gave her a smile. Lupin stepped up to her and lowered his voice until no human ears could have heard him, but Katherine easily picked up his words. "Open the door, but go and hide in the shadows immediately afterwards. We don't want anyone to see you."

The vampire nodded and placed her two hands against the material of the huge door. She channeled all of her energy and pushed against the solid surface. Slowly it gave up its resistance and while she heard what Harry said in the hall, the door swung open and the members of the Order and Dumbledore's Army filed into the hall. "It seems, despite your exhaustive defensive strategies you still have a bit of a security problem, headmaster! And I'm afraid it's quite extensive." Before she could be seen by anybody, the vampire ran back into the shadows of the Entrance Hall and admired her work from afar. _Well, the timing couldn't have been better! _

"How dare you stand where he stood?" The 'Chosen One's voice shook a bit and the brunette guessed he was referring to Snape killing the former headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. With hatred apparent in his tone, he almost spat the following words. "Tell them how it happened that night! Tell them how you looked him in the eye, a man who trusted you, and killed him! Tell them!" The headmaster didn't answer, but Katherine heard how the crowd of students let out shocked gasps and shouts. She had to force herself with all her might to stay hidden. As much as she wanted to know what was going on and how she wanted to help, she couldn't put their plan at risk.

After a moment of silence there was the sound of quickly moving footsteps and the vampire could tell that the other pair besides headmaster Snape didn't belong to Harry. _Strange._ But what she could gather from the sounds coming out of the Great Hall was that these two were duelling each other. Snape had been backed up against the stairs of the podium and suddenly the whooshing sound of somebody apparating, paired with the sound of glass breaking could be heard. A female voice screamed out loud. "COWARD!"

Cheers and applause could be heard and from that Katherine concluded that Snape had disappeared. A relieved sigh stole its way past her lips and the vampire felt her body relax once more. But the peaceful mood didn't last for long! The brunette shivered a bit, as she felt a powerful presence hovering above them all. She got goose bumps all over her body and suddenly a high pitched shriek pierced the air. It was soon joined by another one and shortly after, _his_ voice could be heard throughout the castle.

"I know that many of you will want to fight. Some of you may even think that to fight is wise. But this is folly. Give me Harry Potter. Do this and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave Hogwarts untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You have one hour."

As soon as it had happened, the voice was gone again and there was a dead silence in the Great Hall. _I bet all eyes are on Harry right now… _Katherine shifted uncomfortably on her hiding spot. How she wanted to see what was happening in the hall right now! A girl was the first one to break the silence. "What are you waiting for? Someone grab him." The vampire rolled her eyes. That girl was definitely in Slytherin. She gritted her teeth. How she wanted to walk up to that girl and punch her in the face…

Katherine heard how Ginny, Hermione, Ron and a few others of Dumbledore's Army stepped in front of Harry to show their will to not let him be handed over to You-Know-Who. The vampire couldn't help but smile. _That is what I call true friendship and loyalty!_ Hurried footsteps and loud panting invaded her thoughts and she pressed her back against the stone walls of the castle, completely disappearing into the shadows. A gaunt old man with a cat on his arm and a bunch of keys in his hand ran – well, Katherine wouldn't exactly call it running – into the Great Hall, a completely bewildered look on his face. "Students out of bed! Students in the corridors!" He came to a sudden halt as a woman's voice – the same woman who called the headmaster a coward – interrupted his ranting. "They are supposed to be out of bed, you blithering idiot!" "Oh." He sounded deadpanned. "Sorry ma'am." He turned to scuffle out of the hall, as the woman called out to him. "As it happens, Mr. Filch, your arrival is most opportune. If you would, I would like you, please to lead Miss Parkinson and the rest of Slytherin House from the hall."

If she hadn't been hiding to avoid being seen, Katherine would have loved to give that woman, who seemed to be a professor at Hogwarts, a high five. _Yes, I like your attitude! _"Exactly where is it I'll be leading them to, ma'am?" Mr. Filch's voice had taken on a nonchalant tone, as if he didn't care as to what task he would get. "The dungeons would do. " Katherine almost didn't catch the end of the woman's sentence, as the Great Hall once more erupted with cheers from the students. She continued to stay in the shadows as she heard Mr. Filch lead all members of Slytherin towards the exit of the hall. As the party passed by her hiding place, the vampire couldn't help but smile in satisfaction as she saw the grim and stunned expressions on the student's faces.

After she was sure they were too far away to see her, Katherine slowly inched closer to the door, only to be stopped when she heard a whooshing sound behind her. With lightning speed the vampire spun around only to be met with a smiling Vilhelm and some other vampires from the _Circle_. "Good evening, Katerina. I do hope we didn't startle you." The brunette bowed her head in greeting and was just about to answer as Harry almost ran into her. "Whoa, easy there Harry!" She steadied him to prevent him from falling and the Boy Who Lived gave her a small smile in return. "Thanks."

She quickly introduced him to the Circle and after the group of vampires had filed into the Great Hall to help with the preparations for battle Harry turned to her. "I'm going to look for Rovena Ravenclaw's diadem. Just in case somebody asks where I am." The brunette nodded and as the Gryffindor was just about to dash up the staircase a thought popped up in her head. "Harry, wait!" The black haired young man stopped in his tracks and spun around, a questioning look on his face. Katherine stepped forward. "Can I come with you? I have to at least _do something_ than just hide away in the shadows, careful to not be seen." Harry gave her a small smile and nodded. "Sure." The vampire let out a sigh and stretched a bit. "Where do we start?" Harry thought for a few seconds before coming to a solution. "I'd say… the Ravenclaw common room?"

The two were just about to take off on their search as the vampire spotted three familiar faces coming towards her. "Mother! Father!" Rumena and Samuil greeted their daughter with warm smiles and Kiril, who was walking behind them, gave her a nod, although there was something about him that was odd. Katherine turned to Harry, who was waiting for her on the staircase. "I'll meet you there… I have to make sure no one sees me on my way…" The Boy Who Lived nodded and continued on his way while Katherine hugged her parents and exchanged a few words with them as to how they had been and if they were really going to fight against Voldemort in battle.

The brunette knew her parents had been vampires for a much longer period of time and were very much capable of defending themselves, but she was worried nevertheless. During their conversation Kiril looked like he wanted to tell her something, but except for a few nods here and there he kept silent. After a few minutes of talking Vilhelm interrupted them and sent Rumena and Samuil on their posts to guard the castle. As for Kiril, the leader of the _Circle_ wanted him to stay by his side. The blonde vampire gave Katherine one last nod and disappeared into the Great Hall behind Vilhelm. _Strange._ The brunette knitted her brows together in confusion. _Something's up with Kiril. He isn't behaving like his usual self…_ Making a mental note as to ask him about that later, Katherine was just about to leave for the Ravenclaw common room to meet up with Harry, as she felt someone approach her.

When she turned around she came face to face with a blonde young woman with dreamy eyes and strange earrings. _Were that… radishes?_ She remembered her being in the room as the Trio and her had arrived in Hogwarts earlier, so the brunette relaxed a bit. "I overheard the conversation with you and Harry just now… And I think the Ghost of Ravenclaw could help you in finding the diadem." Katherine didn't know what it was but something about this strange woman told her that she could be trusted. The vampire had learnt over the years that her instincts were never wrong and that she could easily trust them.

"Where do we find the ghost?" "In the abandoned corridor on the 2nd floor… You wait there, I'll get Harry!"

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><p>Well, that's it for this chapter! I really hope you liked it and maybe you'll let me know in a small review? ^^<p>

Until next time and I wish you all the best!

watercave


	13. Chapter 12: Conversation with a Ghost

So, here I am with a new chapter for _The King of Slytherin_! I was kind of inspired to write it, after Katherine's return on last week's episode of Vampire Diaries :) (www youtube com / watch?v=dbG4SIHSRPI just add the full stops and remove the spaces ^^) Well, who wasn't reminded of Katherine from Volume II and Volume III? ^^

Okay, this chapter is for **ChocolateBeth**! Thank you soooo much for your lovely and encouraging reviews!

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><p>Chapter 12<p>

Conversation with a Ghost

The hallway that lay in front of them was silent, the shouting and commotion that echoed through the castle was only a faint noise to those standing in the abandoned corridor on the 2nd floor. The wind blew through the window-less arches from which you could look down into a small courtyard, and created an eerie atmosphere. Dark green ivy – which seemed black because of the night – wound its way around stone pillars which supported the ceiling.

Luna's voice cut through the silence and almost made Katherine jump out of her skin. "If you're to find her, you'll find her down there." The brunette turned around and saw Harry standing next to the witch in the archway. The Chosen One turned to look at the Ravenclaw, a questioning look on his face. "Aren't you coming?" Luna shook her head, an action which had her blonde hair flying all around her face. "No." She took a few steps back, a small smile playing on her lips. "I think it's best if you three talk alone. She's very shy." After one last encouraging look in Harry's and Katherine's direction the witch turned and left them alone.

The Boy Who Lived and the vampire slowly walked down the corridor and stopped in front of the arches to look out at the night sky. The indigo color was tinted with streaks of red and orange as protection spells merged to create a huge shield which encompassed the whole castle and the grounds of Hogwarts. Katherine felt a shiver run down her spine at the magnificent sight. But suddenly she felt something… _His_ presence! He and his army were near. Before she could tell Harry, another, much closer presence to her notice.

When she turned around, there was the very ghost they were looking for hovering above the ground. Harry saw her too and at the sight of the ghost his eyes widened slightly. "You're the Grey Lady… The ghost of Ravenclaw Tower!" The features of the Grey Lady took on a hurt expression and shortly after she dematerialized. "I do not answer to that name!" Shocked to have provoked such a reaction Harry and Katherine rushed after her, afraid to let the only opportunity to get to know the whereabouts of the lost diadem of Ravenclaw slip away. "No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Katherine tried to find where the ghost was with the help of her vampire vision and she was in fact able to locate the faint outline of the ghost of Ravenclaw next to the staircase that led up to the 3rd floor. Speaking in her direction, the brunette tried to calm down the ghost. "You're Helena, right? Helena Ravenclaw? Rowena's daughter." At the mention of her real name the Grey Lady reappeared on the exact same spot where Katherine had managed to locate her, slowly turning around to face them.

"Are you a friend of Luna's?" Relieved, that she was talking to them again, Harry nodded. "Yes. And she thought you might be able to help us." Before he or Katherine could even begin to explain what they wanted to know from her, Helena already knew what they wanted. "You seek my mother's diadem." The black haired wizard seems relieved that he didn't have to ask her the question – this could save them valuable time! "Yes. That's right."

"Luna is kind, unlike so many of the others." The Grey Lady's tone had taken on a sharper tone with each word and she almost spat out her following sentences. "But she was wrong! I cannot help you!" Once again the ghost disappeared, but this time she went right through Harry. _Damn, we don't have time for this!_

"Wait! Please!" Just like before the vampire managed to locate her somewhere further down the hallway and she and Harry ran after her retreating form. When Helena reappeared, she was hovering over the courtyard that was encompassed by the archway. Her back was facing them but at least she hadn't disappeared completely. "We want to destroy it" Katherine's words were almost drowned out as thousands of spells hit the protection shield around the castle and illuminated the darkness of the night with an intense glow. The vampire gasped. _So they are here now… _

Harry looked shocked aswell, but he focused his attention back on the ghost in front of them, intent on getting an answer. "That's what you want too, isn't it, Helena?" "You want it destroyed." The vampire had recovered from her shock and even though her mood had just gotten a tad worse, she was determined to know where the diadem was. Slowly Helena floated away from them, as if she didn't trust them. "Another swore to destroy it many years ago… A strange boy with a strange name." _Tom._ Katherine let out a shaky breath. _So that's how he knew where it was back then…_

Harry had had the same thought as the vampire. "Tom Riddle." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. The Grey Lady nodded, her tone bitter as she continued: "But he lied." "He's lied to many people." Harry's voice was void of any emotion and Katherine nodded in confirmation as images of _him_ staking her in the woods of Albania flashed before her eyes.

In an instant Helena shot forward so that Harry's face and her's were almost touching, the sudden increase in volume in her voice startling him. "I know what _he_'s done! I know who _he_ is! _He_ defiled it with Dark Magic!" As soon as her sudden outburst had come about, it was gone in the blink of an eye. A sad look was on her face as Helena joined Harry and Katherine in the archway, her back facing them.

"We can destroy it once and for all!" The vampire's calm and collected voice resonated through the corridor, bringing Helena to a halt. "But only if you tell us where he hid it." Katherine's voice began to shake as she begged the Grey Lady in her mind to tell them what she knew. "You do know where he hid it, don't you, Helena? You just have to tell us." "Please!"; Harry's voice had taken on a desperate tone and both him and the brunette held their breath when Helena slowly turned around to face them, silent tears running down her cheeks.

She floated over to where the two stood and started to circle around Harry. "Strange… You remind me of him a bit." A confused look was on the Chosen One's face as he kept his eyes trained on the ghost's face. But he didn't have a chance to ask her what she had meant by that as Helena began to retreat, but not without finally telling them what they so desperately wanted to hear. "It is here… In the castle. In the place where everything is hidden. If you have to ask you will never know. If you know, you need only ask."

Upon hearing this very cryptic answer Katherine furrowed her brows and was just about to ask the ghost if she could explain that a little more when Harry spoke up. "Thank you!" His gratefulness was apparent in his voice and without looking back he grabbed Katherine's hand and pulled her with him. _Good to know that Helena's answer at least made sense to him!_ She followed him up countless flights of stairs, all the while occupied with using pillars and spurs as a cover to avoid being seen by students who were passing by them.

"Where are we going?", she managed to ask him when they passed through a deserted hallway. Harry was just about to answer when he lost his balance and had to steady himself against pillar. Katherine rushed to his side and helped him onto his feet again, a shocked look on both of their faces. "What the hell was that?" She searched his eyes for an answer and eventually the Boy Who Lived managed to croak out: "The cup… Hermione and Ron must have destroyed it." The brunette sighed in relief. "Another Horcrux was annihilated? Good, very good!"

The two were just about to continue on their way to Merlin knows where when Katherine stopped short. That was _his_ voice in her head! "_Come here,_ now_!_" Although the message was only three words long, the amount of emphasis he put on the word 'now' made it clear that he had also felt the destruction of the Horcrux and demanded for her presence outside the castle. Upon meeting Harry's questioning look she quickly explained what had happened and after wishing him good luck on his search she made her way about the castle in vampire speed, quickly leaving it to comply with _his_ demand.

Katherine found _him_ and his Death Eaters on top of a hill from which Hogwarts and the area around it could be overlooked. The moment he saw her Voldemort shouted questions at her, all about why she hadn't been able to deactivate the protection shields. _Okay, either he is really _really_ pissed about the destruction of one of his Horcruxes or he found out that I am not really on his side…_ Forcing herself to stay calm, the vampire answered him by lying about how the spells had been too strong – even for a vampire – to be broken by a single person.

She tried her very best to calm him down and she almost would have succeeded if it wasn't for Voldemort losing his balance – similar to the way Harry did before – and Katherine instantly knew that another one of his Horcruxes had been successfully destroyed! As the vampire supported him he turned his head to look at her. "He is destroying my Horcruxes." Acting as if she heard about this for the first time, she widened her eyes in mock-shock and raised her voice a little. "WHAT?" Her breathing became rapid in her pretense to have difficulties staying calm. "O-Okay, how many are left?"

Voldemort was standing upright again by now and instead of answering her he simply looked her in the eye and Katherine knew that there was only one left. _Excellent!_ She didn't know how she managed to keep her joy from her face and out of her voice. "Oh my god…" While she still pretended to slowly recover from her shock the Dark Lord turned and walked towards his Death Eaters, who were preparing to charge forward and into battle. One worried looking man stepped forward, preparing to speak. "My Lord?" He was silenced instantly as Voldemort lifted his wand and a green bolt hit him right in the chest.

Katherine moved quickly to catch up with him. "Whatever it is, we need to protect it!" Without answering her, the Dark Lord looked to the ground where Nagini was following them. "Come, Nagini. I need to keep you safe!" He then held out an arm for Katherine and the second she took it, she was sucked into a swirl of colors as she apparated with him.

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><p>What did you guys think? Please let me know in a review :)<p>

5 chapters to go until _The King of Slytherin_ ends... :(

Have an awesome day! :)

watercave


	14. Chapter 13: Murder at the boat house

Hello there my dear readers!

I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy new year and I hope that you are all blessed with happiness throughout 2013! :)

Dear ChocolateBeth, thank you soooo much for your lovely review! It really made my day! :*

Have fun with this (long overdue) chapter! (writer's block, oh how much I love you...)

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><p>Chapter 13<p>

Murder at the Boat house

While the war was raging in the background, there was an odd moment of peace in the boat house by the Black Lake of Hogwarts. Neither Voldemort nor Katherine had spoken a word since they had apparated here. Nagini, who was in fact his last Horcrux as the vampire had found out not too long ago, was curled up at the Dark Lord's feet. Katherine was one level below him where a few boats were fastened and bobbing up and down on the glistening black surface of the water. Voldemort was curiously inspecting the Elder Wand and his hands, an astounded look on his snake-like face. The vampire knew better than to ask him what was wrong as she knew that she would find out sooner or later.

Suddenly the brunette sensed the presence of a single person outside of the boat house and automatically her body tensed, ready to charge forward. Without looking up from his wand Voldemort turned around to face the door. "Relax, Katherine. I asked him to come here…" At this moment Severus Snape, current headmaster of Hogwarts, entered the house, his imposing figure completely clothed in black. "My Lord.", he greeted his master with a respectful nod. His dark eyes flickered to Katherine for the fraction of a second, no emotion whatsoever could be found in the surging depths of dark grey and black.

Without an introduction the Dark Lord got straight into the topic he seemingly wanted to discuss with his most trusted Death Eater. "I wonder if the wand is working properly…" His eyes never leaving the Elder Wand in his hands he slowly started to pace around the boat house. On the contrary, Katherine was frozen on her spot, intently listening to the unfolding conversation between the two men. Snape clasped his hands behind his back. "You have performed extraordinary magic with this wand, my Lord, in the last few hours alone."

His response must have angered Voldemort, for he looked up from the wand and gave the Death Eater a stern look, voice raised a bit in volume. "No! No, _I_ am extraordinary but the wand resists me!" The vampire didn't catch his next sentence because she was suddenly distracted by three auras she could feel slowly coming towards the boat house. She had a pretty good idea about the identity of these three people and her assumption proved to be right when she saw the top half of Harry's face through one of the fogged windows behind Voldemort. Her breath involuntarily hitched in her throat. _Good Merlin, all_ he _needs to do is to turn his head slightly to the right… _

Forcing herself to not show any signs of her anxiousness, the vampire turned her attention back to the conversation between the Dark Lord and Snape. Hogwart's headmaster did his best to explain to his master that there was no need to worry about the loyalty of the Elder Wand. "There is no wand more powerful. Ollivander himself has said it. Tonight, when the boy comes, it will not fail you. I am sure of it. It answers to you and you only."

Voldemort had turned his back to Severus – thankfully away from where the Trio was lurking outside the windows. His menacing aura seeped through the air and it made the hairs on Katherine's arm stand up as a shiver ran down her spine. At this very moment the brunette knew that it wouldn't be too long until something in his mind would snap. She didn't dare think of the possible outcome of his rage…

Except for the water gargling and splashing against the wooden steles that carried the boat house and the faint noise of the battle raging over their heads there was complete silence. It was so suffocating that Katherine almost didn't catch Voldemort's question, which was barely above a whisper. "Does it?" Snape furrowed his eyebrows at the inquiry. "My Lord?"

The Dark Lord turned around, his eyes boring deep down into the headmaster's black ones, as he slowly began to circle the man. Nagini lifted her head from the position on the ground, her beady eyes never leaving her master. "The wand…" Voldemort stroked almost lovingly over the wooden surface of the Elder Wand. "Does it truly answer to me?" He looked back up at his faithful Death Eater. "You're a clever man, Severus. Surely you must know." Voldemort's voice had taken on a sharp edge as he continued. "Where does its true loyalty lie?"

Katherine admired how calm and emotionless Snape's face remained. She knew a dozen other Death Eaters who would have started to panic quite early on throughout this conversation. Her eyes never left the two men in front of her, the one circling the other like a snake that had found its prey and was ready to attack at any moment. All of a sudden it dawned upon her what Voldemort was hinting at. "The wand cannot serve me properly because I am not its true master…"

At that moment the Dark Lord had stopped in his tracks, coming to stand directly in front of Severus. Unconsciously Katherine's muscles flexed, ready to jump between the two. But no matter what happened, she must not intervene. For the Order's and the Circle's plan to work out she had to hold herself back and allow fate to take control of the events. "The Elder Wand belongs to the wizard who killed its last owner." Voldemort came closer to Snape who surprisingly didn't even move back the tiniest bit. "You killed Dumbledore, Severus. While you live, the Elder Wand cannot truly be mine." With that Katherine and Severus knew that the headmaster's fate was sealed.

"You've been a good and faithful servant, Severus…" Either the vampire's hearing sense was betraying her for a moment or she was able to detect a slight tone of regret in the Dark Lord's voice. _But that was impossible!_ Voldemort was unable to care, even for the slightest bit. Her case was a perfect example. She had believed that he was truly fond of her but in the end he had staked her in the chest.

"But only I can live forever." Voldemort slowly lifted his wand and the vampire could see Snape's eyes widen ever so slightly. "My Lord-" But it was too late. A spell shot out of the tip of the Elder Wand, slamming the headmaster against the window, blood beginning to seep out of deep cuts all over his body. Katherine felt her fangs protrude behind her closed lips and at that moment she was disgusted by herself. She fought against the overwhelming urge to just dash forward and drain the bleeding man until his body was cold as death.

The Dark Lord stepped back, as if to admire his work, before he hissed a command that was directed at Nagini, who had been watching the whole scene before her just like Katherine – thirsting for the dark red blood that was starting to paint the wooden floor of the boat house. Without hesitation she jerked forward and dug her poisonous teeth right into the pale flesh of the Death Eater. She did that several times and her every move was followed by a painful cry from the dying man.

Katherine almost flinched back when a cold hand – Voldemort's hand – landed on her bare shoulder and pulled her with him. Together with Nagini, who followed close behind, the three apparated from the site of the murder and the vampire had to close her eyes this time as to not throw up at the combination of swirling colors and the death she had just witnessed. Yes, she was a vampire, she was used to seeing blood and killing people, but for some reason Snape's death had struck something inside her, the remainder of her humanity. The brunette couldn't put her finger on it, but she suddenly felt that there had been more to the brooding headmaster than what meets the eye… Sadly she would never be able to find out what that exactly had been.

Katherine felt that they had arrived at their destination. She assumed that Severus had lifted the apparition ban that surrounded Hogwarts in order to make it easier for his master to get to the places he wanted to be. Her lids fluttered open and she was surprised to find herself standing on a clearing surrounded by the tall and sinister looking trees of the Forbidden Forest. _What does he want here?_ Katherine kept a close look on the Dark Lord, as he positioned himself at the center of the clearing. After a moment of silence she felt a powerful presence surrounding her and that stretched across the vast grounds of Hogwarts. It was the same feeling she had had in front of the Great Hall, before Voldemort had spoken to the students and the staff of the school.

"You have fought valiantly but in vain." _His_ voice echoed through the silent forest and the vampire was sure that it could be heard all over Hogwarts. "I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat." Katherine's eyes widened as she stared at his back. What was he planning? "In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity. Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you." His voice rose in volume. "On this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself." _Well, that was because he was busy making it possible to kill you!_ "There is no greater dishonor." The brunette hoped that Harry wouldn't let the Dark Lord's words get to him. "Join me in the Forbidden Forest and confront your fate. If you do not do this, I shall kill every last man, woman and child, who tries to conceal you from me."

The silence that followed Voldemort's words weighed heavy upon the world and Katherine didn't move, afraid of breaking it. She was busy trying to figure out what to do now. The Dark Lord undoubtedly was the real master of the Elder Wand now and therefore would be able to kill Harry without much trouble. Of course that shouldn't be happening according to the Order's plan and the vampire knew that Harry wouldn't be able to kill Voldemort yet since there was still one Horcrux left – Nagini. She had to find a way to get back to the castle and talk to Vilhelm, Kingsley and Lupin to discuss what they should do in light of the new events.

Suddenly the Dark Lord turned around and claimed her undivided attention in giving her a task. "Katherine, I need you to go to the castle to make sure that everyone of my followers obeys my orders and retreats into the forest. If someone does not comply you may see him as your dinner." The vampire simply nodded and dashed through the woods towards the site of the battle, mentally thanking Merlin for giving her this opportunity to return to Hogwarts.

There was no time to waste.

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><p>R.I.P. Severus Snape!<p>

Okay, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though it dealt with the death of one of the most misunderstood characters of the series...

Have a great day!

watercave

4 more chapters to go...


	15. Chapter 14: Decisions

Hello my dear readers!

Well, I don't have pretty much to say other than I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Thank you very much to **christina wolf 95** and **Angelique Peyrelongue** for following and adding this story to their favorites! Hope to hear from you sometime ^^

Enjoy chapter 14!

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><p>Chapter 14<p>

Decisions

A wave of shock surged through her body, as Katherine stood in the shadows of the almost completely destroyed archway that surrounded the courtyard. Her eyes took in all the different states of destruction the castle was in – ranging from only a few cracks here and there to being completely ruined. She had never really thought that the castle – the only place that she believed would not fall under the attack of Voldemort – would ever look like this.

The vampire turned away from the courtyard and slowly made her way down the former corridor to the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts. She had to force herself to not look at the dead bodies of young Hogwarts students that lined her path. _This is not right._ Her steps quickened, she needed to speak to Kiril and the others. At this moment, seeing the corpses of so many innocent people who sacrificed themselves to stop Voldemort from taking over the wizarding world, the brunette felt determined than ever to fulfill her task. _This has to end now._

Upon arriving at the Entrance Hall Katherine didn't need to worry about being seen anymore. The people brushing past her paid no attention to her; they were too busy searching for friends and family, desperately hoping that they were still alive. She didn't see anyone from the Circle or the Order in front of the Great Hall, so the brunette entered the hall and wove her way through the many people crouched over motionless bodies, mourning their loss.

The vampire didn't need to look any further when she saw Kiril standing next to a pale Gwendolyn – a small smile played on Katherine's lips; she hadn't seen the older woman in ages – in the middle of the hall. She quickened her steps, happy to see that they were alright. That somehow kept the dark thoughts that were threatening to consume her in check. _Some very unpleasant side effects of war._, she supposed.

"Thank Merlin you two are alright!", she greeted the pair, a small smile on her lips. Although it faltered upon seeing the blank expressions of the two fellow vampires, the brunette tried her best to not lose the slight happiness she felt. "What is wrong? Did something happen?" _Stupid question, of course something happened._Kiril turned his head to look at her, a conflicted expression on his face, as if he was contemplating what to say. As Katherine turned her head to follow Gwendolyn's line of vision, she heard him say: "I am so sorry."

The meaning of his words didn't quite register in her brain, as she felt like her legs would give way to the weight of her body at any moment. There on the bare stone floor of the Great Hall lay the cold bodies of Samuil and Rumena Petrova, a stake driven through both of their hearts. Katherine felt like time had been stopped and every noise other than her heavy breathing had been drowned out. Slowly the vampire sank down to her knees beside her dead parents, her eyes were starting to fill with tears and she didn't bother to stop them from falling.

The emotions that rushed through her veins at that moment were mostly grief and sorrow, but they were mixed with anger. Anger and fury towards the one man that had destroyed her life so bad that even hell seemed like a nice place to live in compared to her situation. _Tom Marvolo Riddle_.

Katherine didn't know how she managed to do it, but she didn't end up unleashing a merciless thunderstorm upon the world. Instead she took a deep breath and looked up at Kiril, nonverbally asking him for an explanation. The vampire must have understood the meaning in her eyes for he shifted his weight and cleared his throat. "Well, someone must have told them that the Order had vampires on their side…" He exchanged a quick look with Gwendolyn next to him. "Otherwise I can't explain to myself how they could have known how to take out a vampire."

Katherine nodded a few times as she brushed away her tears and stood up again, straightening her clothes. "Well, as long as they don't know that we are Originals, there is no need to worry." With one last look at her parent's dead bodies she added: "This is another reason for me to take out the Dark Lord once and for all!" The vampire turned to look at the two Circle members in front of her, wanting to discuss their further strategy, but the look Kiril and Gwendolyn exchanged made her feel somewhat uneasy. "What is it?"

Instead of answering her, the two vampires just continued to look at each other until Gwendolyn gave Kiril a firm nod and left the two alone. Katherine furrowed her brows. _What in Merlin's name is going on?_She tried to search his eyes for an answer but he kept avoiding her gaze for some unknown reason. After clearing his throat the vampire took her by her arm and pulled her with him, out of the Great Hall and away from unwanted bystanders.

After they arrived in the shelter of a deserted corridor, Kiril finally looked at Katherine and the brunette was shocked by the hint of sadness in his eyes. "I know this is a really bad timing…", he started after a moment of hesitation. "But I don't know when we'll see each other again… If we'll see each other again…" The vampire furrowed her brows in confusion. Whatever it was that he wanted to get off his chest, it must be something huge. "When Gwendolyn arrived at Hogwarts a few minutes ago, she told me something. Something she found out about mere hours before the beginning of the battle."

Katherine tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She somehow had a bad feeling about this. "Something about the prophecy?", she asked, her mind desperately trying to figure out what the Circle member could have possibly found out about. Kiril avoided her look once again, instead focusing on the cracks in the stone floor beneath his feet. "She tried to determine the outcome of this battle, if you would succeed or not, but she stumbled upon something that changes everything…"

The vampire grew impatient by him beating around the bush. "Oh for Merlin's sake, we don't have much time Kiril! Just get to the point!" As soon as the words had left her mouth her eyes widened slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so harsh." She let out a shaky breath. "I guess all this" – the brunette made a hand movement that seemed to encompass the whole castle – "is really ticking me off." The blonde man simply nodded in understanding, his eyes left the floor for the fraction of a second to meet with her brown ones. "It's alright."

Taking a deep breath, he continued to tell her what he knew: "Remember how you helped the Dark Lord create his Horcruxes?" "How could I forget?", Katherine scoffed. She would never be able to erase that time from her brain, no matter how much she wanted to. A small smile appeared on Kiril's features. "Right." But it didn't last long, as it was almost instantly replaced by his former serious expression. "During the creation of one of his Horcruxes, something unexpected happened…" The vampire narrowed her eyes at him, urging him to continue. "The part of _his_soul that was going to be tied to the artifact, split itself once more and while one part went into the artifact just as planned, the other one… well… It went into you, Katerina."

Katherine's mind went blank. She could not believe what Kiril was telling her. Her, a Horcrux? But how was that even possible? Her body was shaking a bit and she steadied herself against the cold stone wall of the corridor. He was right, this changed everything. After a few unsuccessful attempts to speak, the vampire was eventually able to form a coherent sentence. "A-And how do we destroy it?" Although a part of her already knew how, she needed to hear it from him.

Kiril didn't answer her immediately, instead he reached for something inside his black leather cloak. Eventually he revealed a wooden stake, designed to kill vampires, but something was different about it. The wood looked slightly lighter than usual stakes, and some Celtic ornaments were engraved into the handle. "For the Horcrux inside of you to be destroyed, you have to kill yourself, Katerina." The brunette let out a shaky breath and she closed her eyes for a minute, trying to progress everything while Kiril continued to talk to her.

"This is one of the only stakes that can kill an Original vampire… Made out of the wood of the White Oak Tree, it has more power than a normal stake." Katherine opened her eyes again to find him holding the stake out to her. "The Horcrux inside you will be destroyed the second you stab yourself with this stake. But you won't be dead directly… First, the stake will have to destroy the spell that makes you an Original. A process, which could last hours… After that however, you will be dead, just like any other vampire who has a stake driven through his heart."

Katherine shakily took the stake into her hands, examining it carefully, since it was the only weapon that could bring death to her. "Of course I can't force you to do this." Kiril sighed. "It is entirely your decision." Realizing that the brunette needed some time to herself, he started to slowly walk away. But before he disappeared around the corner, he stopped to look at her for a final time. "But you should think carefully about what you'll decide on. Including the consequences of your actions…" And then he was gone, leaving the vampire alone with her thoughts in the eerie corridor.

Without thinking about what she was doing, Katherine placed the wooden stake in a pocket in the insides of her jacket while her feet had automatically started walking. She didn't particularly pay attention to where she was going, instead she let her legs carry her wherever they were headed to.

When her feet suddenly stopped, the brunette looked up and was surprised to find herself standing in front of the door to the headmaster's office. She didn't know why her subconscious mind had chosen this location, but instead of continuing to stare at the wooden door, the vampire decided to stop thinking about it and entered the office.

Her senses registered the physical presence of someone as soon as the door swung open and not only her but also the unknown person in the room jumped into defense mode shortly after. Katherine and Harry stared at each other for a moment – fangs bared and wand pulled out respectively – before they both almost simultaneously let out a relieved breath. After a moment of deliberation, the vampire closed the heavy wooden door behind her and slowly stepped into the empty office.

"Well, that was a surprise…" Harry let out a small laugh, but there was no emotion behind it. It seemed as if there was something bothering him too. After a moment of silence passed between them, the Boy Who Lived sat down on the very same spot he had been in as Katherine had walked through the door. The vampire hesitated for a bit, before she slowly walked to where the young man sat on the small set of stairs that led up to where the headmaster's desk was located.

While slowly exhaling, Katherine sat herself down next to him. Just like Harry she looked out of the window at the indigo black sky, which had looked like it was on fire mere minutes ago, allowing her mind for the first time in hours to find peace – even though she knew it wouldn't last long.

The two sat like that for a while until Harry suddenly broke the silence. "Does it hurt?" Surprised by his question, Katherine turned her head to look at him questioningly. "Dying. Is it painful?" Now the vampire knew what he meant. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them while she thought back on that fateful day the basilisk's stare had killed her. Well, not really but that wasn't the point right now!

"To be honest, I don't really remember much…" Ironically, she couldn't help but smile a little. "It has already happened over 50 years ago." She felt Harry nod beside her and they fell into silence once more. Suddenly it dawned upon her what the Chosen One had just asked her. She whipped her head around to look at him, her eyes searching his face for an answer, a slightly alarmed tone in her voice. "Why do you want to know how it feels like to die?"

Katherine saw how Harry was struggling to find the right words, but eventually he spoke up again. "I am V- You-Know-Who's last Horcrux!" At that moment Katherine honestly considered that this was all someone's idea of a joke – a really stupid kind of joke – and that the Order and the Circle would appear from where they were hiding in the headmaster's office at any moment to illuminate her. But nothing of that sort happened. Because it was no joke. It was the truth.

At that moment Katherine realized how much Harry's destiny seemed to mirror her own. They were both Horcruxes, created by the one person that had taken away any chance of happiness in their lives, the one they both wanted to see dead. In order for _him_to be defeated once and for all, they had to sacrifice their lives to save thousands of others. "Everything will be over soon." Katherine didn't know how that was supposed to make him feel better, but she sort of felt obliged to say something. Harry simply nodded, his hands shivering slightly.

They were again consumed by silence, both lost in their own thoughts. "Do you, or rather, did you know who your parents were?", the dark haired young man suddenly asked, breaking the silence. "I grew up in an orphanage in Bulgaria until the day I, well… died…" She looked down at her hands, remembering the fun but also the sad moment she had experienced in that little house in her home country. A sudden twinge in her heart made her aware of how she missed Bulgaria. She hadn't been there in what felt like ages. "I met them when I first heard about my mission…"

Painful memories from when she had laid eyes on the dead bodies of her parents started to surface, this time Katherine fought to hold back the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. "They are-" _Dead._She didn't want to say the dreaded word. Then she could no longer tell herself, that it hadn't happened. But there was no way around it. "Dead… They are dead… Killed by Death Eaters." At that moment the vampire let her guard down for a moment and a single tear ran down her cheek. Thankfully Harry didn't say anything. She didn't want any condolence.

As an afterthought she muttered, more to herself: "I wish I could see it again…" Now it was Harry's turn to furrow his eyebrows in question. But he didn't need to ask, as the brunette continued to talk after a short pause. "The landscape of Bulgaria…" The single tear rolling down her cheek was joined by another one and the vampire could taste their salty essence in her mouth. She knew this was not the ideal place for her to be homesick, but the death of her parents had made her quite sensitive, so the pain of their passing had mixed with her long suppressed desire to see her beloved home country again.

Harry felt a wave of sympathy for the woman sitting beside him rise inside of him. He had been very suspicious of her at first, but she had truly proven that she was on their side. They were not very different, they both wanted to protect what was important to them and they both were orphans; the only difference being the fact that she had eventually had a chance to meet her parents – which he hadn't been able to.

"I am really sorry for what You-Know-Who did to you." The look on Harry's face was pure honesty. "I can't even begin to imagine how it must feel like to have one's life taken away so early but continuing to exist for Merlin knows how long…" A weak smile appeared on the vampire's features. "You don't have to apologize to me Harry! You are not responsible for anything that has happened to me."

The smile was soon replaced by a serious look as Katherine directed her gaze at the stone floor. "I am no saint either, Harry. Being a vampire forces me to kill innocent people and drain them of their life essence… Those are crimes that cannot be undone." Her voice was merely above a whisper and slightly shaking, as she admitted what she had never before said out loud: "I am no better than _him_."

But there was a way she could at least try to atone for her sins. One hand reached up to touch the White Oak stake through the fabric of her jacket. Yes, she would show _him_and everyone that she was different than him in one point. That she wouldn't sit back and watch while he would bring terror and violence upon the wizarding world. No, she would do everything that it took to make sure that wouldn't happen. She had made her choice.

After a while the young man next to her stood up, ready to face the Dark Lord. He turned to look at her and said, as if to prove his determination not only to her, but to himself as well: "I have to sacrifice myself. There is no other way…" With a sigh he checked if his wand was still in his pocket. "Promise me that you will kill him. It is your job after all." He let out a small laugh, but it didn't cover up the fact that he was scared. Katherine just nodded, a sad smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Harry slowly made his way to the door of the headmaster's office, but before he reached out to push it open he turned around to face the vampire once more. "Will you come with me?" Judging from his expression, Katherine's surprise must have been quite evident on her face. "Well… I- umm… That way I won't be lonely on my way to the forest…", he eventually explained his request, scratching the back of his head.

The vampire gave him a small smile as she got up from her sitting position. "I'd love to." He didn't seem to have believed that she would actually say yes and that showed pretty clear in his face as he stared at her, completely shocked and surprised. Upon seeing this, Katherine let out a short laugh that resonated from the walls of the office. "Don't look at me like a deer caught in the headlights. Let's go!" And with that she pulled him with her and out of the office, towards their already waiting fate.

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><p>Well... Did you like it? I hope so :) The end is getting nearer, isn't it?<p>

What do you think? Is Katherine going to sacrifice herself or not? I look forward to hearing (more like reading) your theories!

Lots of love,

watercave


	16. Chapter 15: The forest scene

Wow, I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a while but I was busy with my a level exams but as of yesterday I am finished with school! Yay! *happy dance* That means I finally have enough time to write as much as I want to and here is the result of my newfound freedom ;) A brand new chapter for The King of Slytherin!

A massive thank you goes to the awesome **ChocolateBeth**! Without your lovely and hilarious reviews to brighten my day I think I'd be really depressed and sad... So yeah, you girl are amazing! :D

I really hope you all like this new chapter!

Here we go.

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><p>Chapter 15<p>

The forest scene

Harry and Katherine neared the beginning of the Forbidden Forest, the tops of the trees swayed ever so slightly in the wind. The indigo blue sky was traversed by crimson red and a shimmering violet here and there as the sun was about to rise. After the battle cries and sizzling curses had filled the air for the past hours, the now predominant silence was both eerie and strange. The rustling leaves beneath their feet and their steady breathing were the only sounds that broke the silence as the darkness of the forest engulfed the Boy Who Lived and the vampire after they had entered the grim place.

The two shuddered slightly as the cold wind that seemed to be blowing inside the forest hit their skin, almost as if a Dementor was near. _Well, this might actually be the case… Voldemort did manage to get them on his side._ After quite some time Katherine fell into step with Harry, who had gradually slowed down the nearer they came to their destination. Katherine felt _his_ presence growing and getting closer with every step the two took. "He is near." The vampire felt Harry tense beside her and he stopped, an anxious expression on his face. Katherine didn't say anything as she watched him fidget with his pockets, eventually unveiling a golden snitch.

It wasn't an ordinary snitch, the vampire could tell. It held some sort of power that was concealed from the eye of the beholder. "I am ready to die.", Harry said to no one in particular, but upon his words the snitch opened itself and a triangular shaped stone that was of the size of a crystal that would usually be sitting on a ring was floating in the air and eventually landed in the Chosen One's palm. "The Resurrection Stone…" But that wasn't the only thing that happened. Slowly four stripes of dust materialized out of thin air, shaping themselves to reveal the deceased Mr. and Mrs. Potter, Harry's godfather Sirius and Remus Lupin.

Katherine placed her hand on a shocked Harry's shoulder, who jumped slightly at the contact. "Should I give you a moment for yourself?" Instead of answering the dark haired wizard simply nodded once and the brunette slowly backed away, giving him some valuable time alone with the spirits of his loved ones. The vampire tried to suppress it, but upon seeing Harry's parents the need to talk to or just to _see_ her own parents, who had died not too long ago, overwhelmed her with such force it caught her off guard.

After a few minutes had passed, Harry approached Katherine from behind, the ghosts nowhere to be seen. The vampire searched his face for any signs of hesitation but she found none. His previous anxiousness had somehow been replaced by determination. "Are you ready?", she inquired, surprised at how calm and steady her voice was. The Boy Who Lived responded with a nod and came to stand next to her. Katherine exhaled slowly. "Okay, to avoid raising suspicion I'll pretend that I found you in the forest and took you with me to present you to the Dark Lord. Alright?" Harry gave her a second nod and with a small, reassuring smile the vampire switched on her Dark Lady personage and dragged Harry by the collar of his shirt after her and onto the clearing where Voldemort and his Death Eaters were assembled.

"Well, well…", she sneered, sending a mocking look in Harry's direction. "Look what I found in the woods. A lost puppy!" The Death Eaters hollered with laughter upon her last words, clearly enjoying themselves as they took turns in humiliating the Boy Who Lived by calling him names and insulting him. As the vampire looked across the clearing to where the Dark Lord stood, she could detect the ghost of a smile on his features, which lasted only for a few seconds and then it was gone, replaced by his usual ice cold and emotionless expression. He lifted his pale hand ever so slightly but this gesture was powerful enough to silence his followers.

To Katherine's surprise it wasn't the Dark Lord who spoke up after silence had settled upon the clearing in the Forbidden Forest. It was an incredibly tall man – probably of giant descent, the brunette assumed – confined by thick ropes and guarded by Death Eaters at either side. "Harry? No! What are you doing here?" The Death Eater on his left violently pulled at his chains. "Quiet!"

Katherine shifted her attention back to Harry and Voldemort, who were wordlessly standing in the middle of the clearing, neither of them breaking the eye contact by looking away. This continued for a few moments, everyone on the clearing equally fascinated by their silent exchange. Eventually Voldemort opened his mouth, speaking slowly as if he was carefully selecting his words. "Harry Potter." Katherine shivered slightly at the powerful tone that was in his voice. "The Boy Who Lives…" No one dared to make a sound, let alone move. "Come to die." It was as if the whole forest around them had also been silenced by his words, the rustling of the trees became silent, aswell as the distant cries of various creatures that inhabited the place.

Out of the corner of her eye the brunette saw Nagini slither down into the clearing and to where her master stood, her low hissing was currently the only sound that could be heard in the forest. As if that was what he had been waiting for, the Dark Lord slowly raised his wand, the tip clearly aiming at nothing else but Harry. The vampire's eyes shifted from Voldemort to Harry, who was standing a few feet away from her. She saw the young wizard trembling ever so slightly as he close his eyes, wand pointing at the dry ground that was covered by leaves.

Time seemed to stand still for the better half of a painful minute until a bellowing "Avada Kedavra!" broke the suffocating silence, those two words bearing Voldemort's unbelievable hatred towards Harry. As if someone had switched from normal speed to slow motion the vampire watched how the bright green curse made its way across the clearing to where Harry stood, hitting its destination right in the chest and a blinding white light seemed to explode from where it had impinged on the Chosen One, glaring everyone present.

Katherine was the first one to be able to see again after what felt like hours or even days of utter blindness and the first thing she sensed was a steady heartbeat coming from a position not far away from her. The vampire blinked as the last bits of brightness that had clouded her vision disappeared to reveal both Harry and Voldemort lying on the ground, knocked out from the sheer force of the killing curse. The difference between these two was that Voldemort was slowly beginning to move, whereas Harry's body remained completely still. The brunette furrowed her brows. _But how can he be dead when I can clearly hear his heartbeat?_

"My Lord? My Lord, are you hurt?" There was serious concern in Bellatrix Lestrange's voice as she tried her best to help Voldemort up from where he had collapsed on the ground. The vampire knew that he didn't like to show any signs of weakness so she wasn't surprised when the Dark Lord shook her hands off him. "I don't need your help." "No. Come." Not giving up her attempts to help her master, Bellatrix made a new effort to steady him, but he carelessly pushed his loyal Death Eater to the ground.

A blonde woman was the first one of the other Death Eaters to move, who all watched the scene unfold before their eyes in a seemingly paralyzed state. She stepped forward to where Harry's body was lying on the ground, an emotionless expression on her face. "The boy… Is he dead?", inquired Bellatrix from across the clearing, her loud voice awakening some of Voldemort's followers from their trance. Some whispered with the person standing next to them, waiting for the final verdict to be spoken.

With every step the witch came closer to Harry, Katherine felt her breathing getting more and more uneven. She had no doubt that the Boy Who Lived was alive – although she had no clue as to how this was even possible – and the chance that his very much alive heartbeat would escape the notice of the blonde witch was next to impossible. The vampire forced herself to calm down, the last thing she needed was for her cover to be blown at this particular moment.

The witch sank to her knees and bent over the 'dead' Chosen One, inspecting him thoroughly for some time. Katherine unconsciously bit her lip as she anxiously waited for the woman to speak. After a few moments of silence had passed, her vampire senses heard something. "Draco. Is he alive?" It was the blonde woman's voice and a look around at the Death Eaters and Voldemort told Katherine that they hadn't heard anything. She held her breath as the woman slowly got onto her feet again, turning around to face her master and his followers. The vampire involuntarily held her breath. _This is it, she knows that Harry isn't dead and she'll tell _him _any moment-_

"Dead."

A moment of silence followed her statement and when the cries of victory erupted around her Katherine had to close her eyes for a moment as relief washed over her. Whoever this Draco was the woman had asked Harry about probably saved his life. The vampire slowly stepped forward to stand next to the blonde witch, who was still looking at Harry's body on the ground.

Suddenly there was silence once again and Voldemort spoke up, a triumphant tone in his voice. "Wait! I want Katherine to also confirm Harry Potter's death!" As soon as his words had left his mouth the blonde witch's head whipped around to look at the vampire next to her, a look of pure shock and fear in her deep blue eyes. Katherine stayed silent for a moment, searching the woman's features for something that explained her lie to the Dark Lord. Slowly the vampire turned to look at Voldemort, who had his eyes fixed intently on her.

"He is dead. There is no heartbeat."

Once more the Death Eaters let out celebratory cries and this time Voldemort didn't stop them. He closed his eyes, a look of content and relief on his features. Katherine turned back to the blonde witch who looked at her with widened eyes. Without a word the vampire simply nodded and offered a small smile. It took a while for the woman to awaken from her trance like state but when she did, she returned the brunette's nod. A second wave of relief washed over her as Katherine realized that the woman wouldn't give her away. She seemed to have something that she valued much more than the Dark Lord and his aim to rule the wizarding world.

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><p>Dun dun dun!<p>

What do you guys think? Please let me know in a review and I'll be happily typing the next chapter for this story ;)

Until next time all the best,

watercave


	17. Chapter 16: A turn of events

Hello there my lovely readers!

I've got a new chapter for The King of Slytherin here for you - the second to last one... NOOOOOO! But still, a new chapter, yay! ;)

A big shout out goes to **ChocolateBeth** for reviewing the last chapter! Every time I read one of your comments I just feel so loved. Thank you very much for that! :*

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><p>Chapter 16<p>

A turn of events

The walk out of the Forbidden Forest and towards Hogwarts passed Katherine by in a blur. One moment she came to stand next to Voldemort in the clearing of the forest like he had requested her to do and the next she was at the forefront of the procession of Death Eaters, about to cross the stone bridge that connected the castle with the world beyond its boundaries. Harry's body was being carried by the half-giant, who had silent tears running down his weather-beaten cheeks. He must have been a close friend of the Chosen One.

As they got closer to the castle the vampire saw more and more Hogwarts students, teachers and members of the Order and the Circle filing out of the very worn out structure onto the courtyard. The rising sun that had previously painted the dark night sky in different shades of red and violet now cast bright daylight over the scene. Different states of shock were visible on the faces of the brave wizards and witches who had risked their lives to defend Hogwarts and the wizarding world as a whole. They were frantically trying to figure out the identity of the body the half-giant was carrying, although deep down in their hearts they already seemed to know who it was.

"Harry Potter is dead!", the Dark Lord declared, confirming everyone's worst fears. Katherine saw Ginny trying to get to Harry, crying out in pain, but was held back by her friends. At that moment the vampire's heart went out to all of Harry's friends who now thought he was dead. How she wanted to tell them the truth, that it wasn't true and that the Boy Who Lived, their only hope, was very much alive. But she couldn't.

"Stupid girl!", Voldemort sneered as his followers assembled behind him like a solid black wall no one could get past. Katherine stood among them, watching the scene before her eyes unfold like a stage play. "Harry Potter is dead.", the Dark Lord said once more, clearly enjoying his triumph and power. "From this day forth, you put your faith in me." He turned around to cast a look over his Death Eaters. "Harry Potter is dead!"

As if on cue his followers started to laugh venomous, making sure to rub it into the faces of the defeated party that they had won. The vampire let a smirk play on her lips as Voldemort's eyes locked with hers. As a sign of her recognition the brunette bent her head in a small bow. A moment passed between them and Katherine was surprised to find a warm look in his eyes. _As if he is genuinely glad that I am here with him…_ The vampire quickly banned these thoughts from her mind. She must not change her attitude towards him because of one single thing. He killed not only her parents but many other innocent people. _We must bring him down. _I _must bring him down!_

"And now is the time to declare yourself." Voldemort had turned his back to Katherine and was facing his enemies once more. "Come forward and join us. Or die." Of course no one of the students and teachers moved. A few moments passed in silence and so everyone was quite surprised as Lucius Malfoy spoke up: "Draco." The vampire snapped to attention. That was the same person the blonde witch had asked the Chosen One about in the Forbidden Forest not half an hour ago. "Draco… come." That was the witch's voice! The brunette turned to where the voices had come from and there she saw the blonde witch standing next to Lucius, both had extended their hands to this person called Draco.

Suddenly there was movement among the defeated students and teachers. A blonde young man – he had the same hair color as the older couple who seemed to be his parents – stepped forward and made his way across the courtyard. _So this is the wizard who unknowingly saved Harry's life…_ Katherine watched him come to stand in front of the Dark Lord, who had an unusual warm expression on his face. "Ah, well done Draco. Well done." What happened next didn't quite register in everyone's heads and some were obviously asking themselves if they were hallucinating. Their leader, the darkest wizard of all time was hugging Draco Malfoy in front of everyone. _Well… that's kinda awkward._

After he was released from the hug Draco immediately joined his parents and it seemed as if Voldemort was just about to say something when a series of gasps rippled through the student body. And after Katherine had detected the source of their surprise, she too was stunned. Neville Longbottom, the Gryffindor who had led Dumbledore's Army in Harry's absence had stepped – more like limped – forward into the middle of the courtyard, carrying what looked like the sorting hat. _What the-_ The vampire couldn't believe her eyes. Although she had known Neville only for a short period of time she had had the impression that he hated Voldemort with passion and would never, even in the face of death, join his ranks.

Voldemort himself seemed to be surprised. "Well, I must say I hoped for better." Once again the Death Eaters broke out into booming laughter, which was almost more intimidating than their battle cries. "And who might you be, young man?", the Dark Lord asked, a mocking tone laced his words. "Neville Longbottom." His introduction was accompanied by yet another round of laughter courtesy of the Death Eaters, only to be interrupted by their master. "Well, Neville, I'm sure we can find a place for you in our ranks."

"I'd like to say something."

The look on Voldemort's face and the way he started pacing around the cobblestoned courtyard of the castle told Katherine that he was growing impatient with the young man and that he had to restrain himself from cursing Neville then and there. "Well, Neville, I'm sure we'll all be fascinated to hear what you have to say." With that he gave the Gryffindor the permission to say whatever it was that weighed heavy on his chest.

"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone." Although some of his friends tried to stop him from continuing, the Gryffindor didn't let himself be deterred and continued, his voice getting stronger with every word he said. "People die every day." He looked around at his friends, making it clear that he wasn't addressing the Dark Lord and his followers alone. "Friends, family. Yeah." Neville heaved a sigh. "We lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us, in here."

At that he reached up and placed a blood stained hand on the spot where his heart was located. Katherine felt warmth and appreciation for the brave young man surge through her. So he wasn't going to change sides. He just wanted to give Voldemort a piece of his mind. "So's Fred… and Remus. Tonks. All of them." Neville's voice increased in volume as he gained more and more confidence. "They didn't die in vain!" He then turned to look at the Dark Lord, who was now shooting daggers at him with his eyes. "But you will. Because you're wrong."

As if the hug a few minutes ago hadn't been out of character enough for Voldemort, the dark wizard started to laugh wholeheartedly like Neville had just cracked the joke of the century. The Gryffindor simply ignored him and continued: "Harry's heart did beat for us. For all of us. This is not over!" With his last words Neville reached into the sorting hat and pulled out a silver glistening sword with ruby crystals embedded in the hilt.

After that everything happened at once! Voldemort was just about to bark orders at his followers as Nagini lifted her head from the ground, hissing at Neville, but everything seemed forgotten as Harry Potter jumped out of the half-giant's arms, shooting a spell at the snake and hiding in the destroyed archway that surrounded the courtyard after sharing a brief eye contact with a furious Voldemort. Upon seeing that the Chosen One wasn't dead but very much alive many Death Eaters didn't hesitate to disapparate from the castle, leaving their master with only a handful of loyal followers.

Voldemort didn't seem to notice his fleeing followers as he shot curses to where Harry had disappeared behind the stone walls of the archway, his anger and fury had been ignited once again. The joy that came with Harry being alive seemed to give the Hogwarts students new hope and they began to move into the castle, effectively luring the remaining Death Eaters inside. Katherine's attention shifted from where she clearly sensed Harry's presence to the battle that commenced once more – but this time in the Great Hall of the school – and back again at an incredible speed.

She was pushed inside the castle by the moving crowd of people and therefore the vampire decided that she would have to wait for a good opportunity to present itself to make her move. For now her task was to act like she still was on _his _side, but to protect students and teachers from the Death Eaters in a manner that wouldn't attract unwanted attention.

Katherine quickly touched the spot where the White Oak stake lay underneath her jacket. It was still in place.

Her time would come.

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><p>Oh man, I still don't want Kat to sacrifice herself... How about you guys?<p>

The end is getting closer and closer...

All the best and have a lovely day,

watercave


	18. Chapter 17: How it all ends

Hello there!

I apologize that it took so long to post the final chapter, but I wrote this one like five times because I just felt that I wasn't right yet - until now!

I'm finally satisfied with it and I hope you guys are, too ;)

Okay, here goes the final chapter of _The King of Slytherin_, happy reading and I'll see you in a bit!

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><p>Chapter 17<p>

How it all ends

To describe the state the Great Hall of Hogwarts was in as chaotic would be quite the understatement. Katherine had to avoid curses that were aimlessly shooting through the air almost all the time as the Battle of Hogwarts had entered its second phase. Some of the house tables that had been used as depositions to nurse wounded students during the brief pause earlier that night and thus were still standing in the hall had been knocked over or had been turned into dueling arenas. The pace of the duels could easily be compared to lightning speed and even the vampire, who was in possession of a sharp eyesight, had difficulties to clearly distinguish who was friend and who was foe as everything was a swirl of black and grey.

Although it seemed like no one was paying attention to her and that everyone had his or her eyes fixed on the enemy they were fighting, the vampire was very careful in pretending to fight against students and teachers, while she was in fact waiting for the perfect moment to take out a Death Eater without being seen. She particularly enjoyed annihilating a Death Eater who had made the moves on her while she and Voldemort had stayed at Malfoy Manor.

This seemed to go on for hours, for every one of their dead, the students and teachers of Hogwarts took out a Death Eater, and the other way round. It was a seemingly endless circle of killing and being killed. There was no sign that the battle would end anytime soon, so it came as quite the surprise when Harry suddenly appeared in the middle of the Great Hall, facing an enraged Dark Lord. Suddenly the battling pairs and groups around the two stopped shortly after the appearance of the Boy Who Lived and everyone had their attention on them.

"Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?", the dark wizard spat, clearly disgusted by his enemy. "Nobody.", was Harry's simple answer and the two stared at each other in silence for a while. It almost seemed like the whole Great Hall was holding its breath, as if to not miss anything that would happen between them. The Dark Lord and Harry Potter stood like this for what seemed like an eternity to Katherine and the watching bystanders in the Great Hall.

Suddenly Harry began to speak again and his question made the brunette tense slightly. "Do you remember Katerina Petrova?" _Here we go…_ Katherine let out a shaky breath as she once more made sure that the White Oak stake was still safely hidden underneath her jacket. Instead of answering the Boy Who Lived, there was a blank look on the Dark Lord's face, no sign of recognition on his features whatsoever. "The Gryffindor fourth year that was killed by the Basilisk in 1943?", Harry added, trying to stirr a memory in Voldemort's brain.

It took a while but eventually the Gryffindor had succeeded. "Ah, her." There was a hint of arrogance in his voice, the same tone Katherine remembered him using as he and his followers had bullied her all those years ago. She unconsciously clenched her fists as painful memories of these aggravating years began to surface inside her head, thoughts she had managed to suppress over the centuries. "Yes, I remember her, although very faintly."

Harry was about to say something, when Voldemort spoke up again, a questioning tone in his voice. "Why? Are you so desperately trying to stall for time by talking about my past kills?", he drawled, clearly thinking that he still was the superior party of the battle. As if to dismiss the topic, he began to move again, placing one foot before the other as himself and Harry began to circle each other. "She has nothing to do with this."

A slight smile appeared on the Chosen One's features and the vampire could see a glint of amusement in his eyes. "That's where you are wrong." He raised his voice slightly for emphasis as he continued: "She has _everything_ to do with this!" As if being woken from some sort of trance, Katherine slowly made her way past watching students, teachers and Death Eaters, who were so transfixed by the scene before their eyes that they didn't even pay the tiniest bit of attention to her.

Voldemort sported a questioning expression, as he tried to understand what his enemy was hinting at. "How so? She is dead." There was a slightly triumphant tone in his voice as Harry replied: "That's what you think…" Apparently his words had sparked the Dark Lord's interest and a slightly frown appeared on his features as he intently waited for the Boy Who Lived to go on. Sensing this, Harry purposely let him dangle for a few more seconds before he broke the silence encompassing not only them, but the Great Hall as a whole. "She is not dead."

This was it. This was her cue, Katherine could feel it. As if some strange force had accumulated the command over her body, she felt herself move forward to where the two men stood, an emotionless expression on her face. If she had been alive at this moment, the vampire was sure that her heart would be beating rapidly in her chest and her whole body would tremble with anticipation. This was the moment her whole life had been leading up to, the day she would reveal her true identity to the Dark Lord, the one man that had ruined her life many years ago. The man she was destined to take down.

She couldn't recall how she ended up stepping past the Death Eaters and Hogwarts students standing at the front and coming to stand next to Harry. Voldemort's look, which had solely been on the Boy Who Lived, shifted from the wizard to her, a confused expression appearing on his face. A slight smile danced across the vampire's features. "I am – or rather _was_ – Katerina Petrova." There, she had said it. Now there was no turning back. Not that she would want to. It felt right.

"That is impossible!" For the first time in all those years she had known him, the vampire heard the Dark Lord's voice tremble slightly. "There is no way you are Katerina Petrova. She died in 1943-" "With vampire blood in her system…", Katherine interjected with a sing-song voice. A satisfied smile played on her lips as she saw Voldemort's jaw clench. "Ah, I see you recall how one becomes a vampire…" The vampire, aswell as Harry, enjoyed watching Voldemort fighting to keep his composure. He seemed to have really been caught off guard.

"But what have you to do with all of this?", he eventually asked, only looking at Katherine, an unexplainable look in his eyes. _Hmmm, seems like he is in denial…_, the vampire mused, assuming that Voldemort was beginning to grasp what her role was deep down inside of him. Instead of her, Harry answered his question: "I never was the 'Chosen One', Riddle." He turned his head to look at the brunette next to him, a warm look in his green eyes. "It was always her."

Voldemort shot an ice cold stare at her, as realization dawned upon him. "You betrayed me!" Although it was supposed to be a question, the tone in his voice made it seem like a statement. The brunette simply shrugged, clearly enjoying twisting the knife in the wound. "As a matter of fact, yes, I did." She slowly walked towards the Dark Lord, who was watching her every move closely and waited for her to continue. "And I am surprised that you never became suspicious…" A look of fake confusion appeared on her features and there was a mocking tone in her voice. "You're the oh-so-perfect and infallible Lord Voldemort after all." A small laugh escaped her lips.

When Voldemort didn't say anything, the brunette continued to tell him the truth, for the first time in almost 50 years. "Moving on, after I got to know about the prophecy, I returned to Hogwarts in 1944 as Katherine Pierce with the task to get into your trusted circle and eventually kill you… Which was quite a vague plan, I admit." As if she wasn't telling the darkest wizard of all time how she managed to fool him and informing him on how the weather was supposed to be tomorrow instead, the vampire sighed. "I eventually became your Dark Lady and you started creating your Horcruxes, we all know that part of the story." Her eyes briefly locked with Voldemort's and she was not surprised at the dark stare he was giving her. "At least some of us do…"

"Everything was going to plan, but then…" Katherine looked away from Lord Voldemort, shifting her line of vision to the lone rays of sunlight that were making their way through the mostly destroyed windows of the Great Hall. The sun was about to rise. "I made a very crucial mistake." The vampire stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Voldemort again. "I…" For the first time, she hesitated. It was one thing to tell the members of both the Order and the Circle what she truly had felt for the Dark Lord during those years, but it was ten times more terrifying telling thousands of people that she, the one who was supposed to hold an incredible amount of hate towards the man who had killed her, actually loved him.

Her internal struggle probably didn't went unnoticed, but Katherine managed to quickly gather her composure again and cleared her throat. This was the time for her confession and in order for the plan to be successful, she had to say it. Everything. "I fell in love with my enemy." Her voice was way quieter than what the brunette had thought it would be and she could not suppress the slight quiver at the end.

A low murmur rippled through the assembled crowd as a reaction to her confession. But Katherine didn't care as to what everyone else was thinking. Her eyes only saw him. Lord Voldemort didn't show any trace of emotion on his face, but his detached façade didn't quite reach his eyes. There was a certain look in them that even she herself, who had spent many years with him, was unable to read. A part of her wanted to believe that it was some sort of sadness, but the other, more powerful side of her that was in control of the whole situation, locked that thought away, not wanting for it to escape.

The vampire forced her eyes away from the Dark Lord, but she could still feel his stare on her as she continued with her story. "I betrayed the whole wizarding world, ready to give up everything for you… For a small chance of happiness." To avoid looking at Voldemort, the brunette allowed herself to glance at Harry, who was standing a few feet away from her. The Boy Who Lived gave her a small smile along with an encouraging nod, urging her to carry on. "I don't know what would have happened, if you hadn't staked me in Albania back in 1949…"

The memories of the hour of Riddle's betrayal welled up inside of her and erased all previous thoughts of sympathy she had had for him after seeing some sort of sadness in his eyes. "That was my wake-up call to realize, what side I really am on.", she spat, not holding back all the disdain she felt towards him from creeping into her voice. Her statement was accompanied by a sweet smile – that obviously was of ironic intent – in Voldemort's direction. "So I guess I'll have to thank you for showing me where I really belong."

The brunette came to a stop right in front of the Dark Lord, lifting her head ever so slightly to look the man straight into the eyes. "Well, long story short: I redeemed myself by sneaking my way back into your trusted circle – although this time I didn't change sides halfway through." As if in thought the brunette tilted her head to the side, her eyebrows knitted together in faux confusion. "Do you know how hard it was to never let my guard down all those months?" Apparently it had taken quite some time for Voldemort to process this sudden change of events, as he had let Katherine talk without saying anything. Until now. "Why are you telling me all of this?" His voice was calm and collected, as if he was casually asking about whether it would rain later on or not.

Her signature grin appeared on the vampire's features, as she stepped even closer towards the Dark Lord. "Isn't it obvious?" Instead of waiting for the man to answer, Katherine carried on with her speech. "I just wanted to let you know that you aren't as powerful and invincible as you make others believe." Slowly the brunette took a few steps back. "I wanted to tell you that you cannot simply mess with someone's life without having to face the consequences."

She turned around and started walking away from him, the silent crowd around them parted in respect and slight fear to make way for her. From behind her, Katherine could hear his throaty laugh assaulting her ears. "Oh, and what exactly are these 'consequences' going to be, Katerina?" He spat her real name as if it was the most disgusting thing on the entire planet. The tone in his voice made it pretty clear to her that he didn't believe a word she had said to him. The vampire didn't answer him right away as she stopped in her tracks. She didn't turn around to face him, she simply turned her head, a small smile was playing on her lips. "You will see…"

Katherine began to move again, smiling at Harry as she passed him. _Now it is up to you, my friend._ No one stopped her as she walked towards the entrance of the Great Hall. As she went past the many faces of students, teachers and Death Eaters alike, the vampire felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders. She had told him everything! For the first time, she had been honest with him, and it had felt right. Finally she had been able to drop all pretenses and all the lies in front of him.

A veil of utter silence followed her, as she stepped over the threshold of the entrance to the Great Hall, the wooden double doors clearly having been marked by the battle that had been raging in- and outside of the old castle. Without thinking as to where she was going, the brunette decided to let her feet carry her to wherever they wanted to take her. Eventually she ended up in an abandoned corridor not too far off from the Great Hall and Katherine slowed down until she came to a halt.

With calm and steady hands she reached inside her jacket and slowly pulled out the White Oak stake, the rays of the rising sun hitting its surface and making it seemingly glow in the light. By now all doubts she had had before had vanished and Katherine was sure that her confession to the Dark Lord had helped a lot with that. With a deep breath the brunette positioned the sharp tip of the stake, so that it aimed directly at her heart.

At that moment a strong burst of magic erupted from the Great Hall and Katherine instinctively knew that it was Harry and Voldemort dueling each other again. The sudden surge of power didn't last long however and as soon as it stopped, the brunette knew that Harry hadn't been able to kill the Dark Lord, because she was still alive. So she closed her eyes and with one strong push she plunged the stake right into her heart, a moment later a second burst of magic seemed to swallow up the whole castle.

Katherine wasn't able to register anything else after that. The world around her seemed to freeze as her body lost all of its balance and fell to the ground, the pain of the hit was swallowed up by a numbness that seemed to encompass her entire being. The vampire felt like liquid ice was spreading from the spot, where the stake had torn through her skin, through her veins, making her feel slightly cold. She felt her lids becoming heavy and her sight was getting more and more hazy and unfocused.

The surge of magic had stopped and after a prolonged moment of absolute silence, in which even the birds sitting in the trees that surrounded Hogwarts seemed to be completely quiet, thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the Great Hall. In that moment Katherine knew, that the plan had worked. Voldemort was dead once and for all!

A weak smile played on her lips as Katherine lost her grip on all things surrounding her and finally slipped into the welcoming arms of black nothingness.


	19. Epilogue

Epilogue

Suddenly warmth came through the walls of coldness that had been surrounding her and she was able to make out various birds singing in the distance while a slight breeze ruffled through what sounded like grass. It cost her some strength but she eventually was able to open her eyes to look at a clear blue sky above her. _Was this heaven?_

No, this was most certainly not heaven since she felt a jolt of excruciating pain shooting through her entire body as she tried to pull herself up into a sitting position. There was some movement which she could make out from the corner of her eye and suddenly Harry, Ron and Hermione kneeled around her, half-worried, half-relieved looks on their faces.

Katherine was not sure if her vocal chords would do her bidding, but she tried to speak nonetheless. "What- How… Where are we?" Words came out of her mouth, but her voice didn't sound good. Maybe that was because she hadn't used it in Merlin knows how long. Harry was able to smile a little, even though he didn't really feel like it. "Don't you recognize your home country?"

At that comment the brunette's eyes widened as she looked around her and indeed saw the beautiful nature of Bulgaria around her. They were located on a small hill from which one could overlook a vast plain with trees and rivers. She couldn't believe it! She was home.

A single tear was running down her face as she turned to the Trio in front of her. "But how-" She didn't need to finish the sentence, as Ron answered her right away. "Harry told us about your little talk in Dumbledore's office and how much you missed your country." He then looked down as he was approaching a sensitive topic. In the end Hermione continued talking. "And Harry thought that we should do everything to grant you that wish before… it is too late." The young witch's voice shook a little at the end.

Katherine exhaled a long, deep breath. So it was true what Kiril had told her. She didn't die on the spot but instead was faced with a long death. Her limbs felt like they weighed a ton and it was exhausting to be in her half upright position. While she slowly let herself glide down onto the grass to look at the sky, she ran the events of the past hours over in her head. Harry, who had come back from death, her dead parents… And finally _his_ death.

She felt both sad and happy. Happy that she had been able to fulfill her task at last, and sad because she had really cared about him. Even while she was pretending to be on his side again, a part deep down inside of her had known that she still cared. But this time these feelings hadn't gotten in the way of freeing the Wizarding World.

Suddenly Katherine felt a cold creeping up from her legs and she instantly knew that her time was running out. But she was not afraid. In fact, she was looking forward to see her parents again. And she was extremely touched that Harry, Ron and Hermione had presented her with granting her 'final' wish! "Thank you so much for everything!" She looked up at the three and her heart was full of warmth. "I wish I could stay with you for the rest of your lives, but unfortunately I can't…" Hermione was fighting back her tears. They had known each other for a very short time, but the bond that had formed between them nevertheless was a strong friendship.

A sad smile on her face, the brunette looked at them fondly, saying her next words with absolute sincerity. "I wish you the utmost of luck and happiness for your individual futures!" By now almost all of her skin had turned grey and she had to focus to stay conscious at least for these last seconds. "I will always be watching you from wherever I am going to now." She felt a tightening grip on her chest, as if the life was squeezed out of her. "I am deeply honored to say that I have known you and fought alongside you in battle." The smile that followed her last words stayed on her face even after she closed her eyes and her long life finally came to an end.

The Trio sat in silence for a long time, each one of them praying for her soul. Harry once again thought back onto their conversation before he had gone off to sacrifice himself. If he had only known then that she was facing the same burden like he had. _I am no saint either, Harry. Being a vampire forces me to kill innocent people and drain them of their life essence… Those are crimes that cannot be undone. I am no better than him._ Those had been her words. He found himself once again looking out onto the beautiful landscape of Bulgaria, wishing that her soul found a place in heaven. She deserved it!

After the three had finished with their individual prayers and thoughts, they dug her a grave on top of the hill, so she could always see her country from its most beautiful side. Hermione found a white rock which was shimmering brightly as soon as sunlight touched its surface. With a flick of her wand, engravings started to appear on it.

_Here lies Katerina Petrova. The bravest woman of the Second Wizarding War._

* * *

><p>That's it.<p>

It's over...

I'd love to hear from you all one last time, as I would like to know what you guys thought about the ending, what your favorite moment from the entire series was and so on ;)


	20. Thank you!

Well, after a total of 47 chapters and 63.832 words we have finally arrived at the end of _The King of Slytherin_…

My god, that was quite a journey ^^ And thanks to this story my English really improved a lot. When I look back at the first chapters of Volume I, I inwardly cringe sometimes at how bad I was back then… Well, thank you all for bearing with me! :)

I would like to thank all of the amazing and wonderful people who have favorited and commented this series! Without your incredible sweet and motivating comments I certainly wouldn't have been able to finish this! **MalfoyKatherine**, **Someone**, **pixielike-alice**, **coolvampgirl**, **2lazy2loginXD**, **Katerina The Von**, **NotReallyDead**, **Livmays**, **FlowerAngelxoxo**, **ChocolateBeth **(YOU ROCK!), **Katherine S**, **smearingstars**, **thestuntedgiraffe**, **WarriorDarkAngel**, **LUCY**, **Luna Kasanoda**, **5daysofsummer**, **odetted99**, **DritneyForever**, **Let96**, **Dark Goddess013**, **Katerina** and my **Guest** reviewers, I love you all! :*

I would also like to thank all of the silent readers, who have taken the time to read _The King of Slytherin_ – of course this also applies to all the lovely people mentioned above ;)

God, I don't want it to be over… :(

Well, there is still _Volume V_ with all the deleted scenes, which I'll be updating from now on. You can find Volume V under my profile.

All the best and I hope that we'll see each other in one of my other stories ;)

watercave


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